THE Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has stated that recent government interventions will lead to a decrease in the prices of food items in the market.
The surge in food prices has created hardship for many Nigerians, prompting protests in various parts of the country.
To tackle this issue, President Bola Tinubu instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to release approximately 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, and other commodities from strategic reserves to address the escalating cost of food in the nation.
In a briefing with journalists in Abuja, the Minister emphasized that this action will lower food prices and enhance food accessibility for Nigerians.
He further explained that the government is exploring the option of temporarily importing these commodities if the need arises.
Additionally, the government has engaged with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria to ensure the availability of approximately 60,000 metric tons of rice in the market, aiming to meet the country’s food needs for the next few weeks or even a month.
The Minister’s remarks underscore the government’s commitment to swiftly address the challenges of food scarcity and high prices, with the goal of making essential food items more affordable and readily accessible to the populace.
He said, “The Federal Government has looked once again at the issue of difficulty of putting food on the table of most Nigerians and has come up with a number of measures to ensure that food becomes more readily available to Nigerians.
“The first one is that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security release about 42,000 metric tonnes of maize, millet, garri and other commodities so that these items will be made available to Nigerians immediately. The second one is that we have held a meeting with the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria and asked them to open up their stores.
“They have told us that they can guarantee about 60,000 metric tonnes of rice. This will be made available and we know that this will be enough to take Nigerians the next couple of weeks, perhaps one month.
“They have agreed that they will make that available in the market so that food will be made available. Now the whole idea of this is to crash the prices of these items and these are measures that will happen immediately.”
He also stated that the government is looking at the possibility of importing some of these commodities temporarily if it becomes necessary.
