Following protests in Niger and Kano States, President Bola Tinubu has directed the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to take immediate measures to address the rising cost of food in Nigeria.
Information Minister Malam Mohammed Idris, who made the disclosure, stated that the government is taking steps to address the issue, including releasing food from storage facilities and talking to millers and traders.
The minister disclosed this after a meeting of the committee on Tuesday in Abuja.
In the protest over the continuous rise of food prices in Niger State, protesters blocked a major road on Monday.
Also, some women in Kano last week protested against the rise in the price of flour in Kano state.
Governor Kabir Yusuf of Kano met with business leaders on Monday and promised to inform the President of the hardship faced by Nigerians.
According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s inflation rate has climbed to approximately 30%, largely driven by the increasing cost of food.
Idris told journalists on Tuesday evening that President Tinubu was concerned about the accessibility and affordability of food items across the nation.
“The government is very concerned about what Nigerians are going through, especially what happened in Minna yesterday.
“Therefore government is taking some actions to ensure that Nigerians have some relief in terms of the availability of food on the table.”
Idris said the committee meeting would continue until Thursday, adding that certain significant measures are already being considered to ameliorate the deplorable situation.
“Now, some of these will involve unlocking the foods that are available in most of the storage facilities (National Food Reserves) around the country.
“The government is also talking to major millers and major commodity traders to also see what is available in their stores.
“To open it up, so that government will provide some intervention, discuss with them to provide some intervention to make this food available to Nigerians.”
He said that the government was aware that some persons were creating food shortages because of its high cost and the depreciation of the currency.
“What I will tell Nigerians is that the President has directed that government needs to step in to stem this tide.
“The government will not fold its arms and see the way Nigerians are suffering in terms of the availability of these food items, so I want to plead with you to understand with the government.
“By the time these meetings are concluded, we’ll be able to issue a definite statement on what the position of government is in this regard.”
The meeting was attended by the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Central Bank Governor, Yemi Cardoso, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Abubakar Kyari and that of Budget and Economic Planning, Bagudu Atiku as well as Ministers of State for Agriculture, Sabi Abdullahi and FCT, Mariya Mahmoud.
