The Federal Government is considering opening the nation’s food reserve as part of measures aimed at drastically reducing food prices in the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Audu Ogbeh, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of the Federal Executive Council presided over by the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo.
He was joined by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; and the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelemah.
Ogbeh said the council received the interim report of a committee set up last week to look at the issue of hike in food prices.
While saying the committee identified the causes of food price increases, the minister noted that the good thing is that “there is no real shortage of food.”
He said the problem was that the prices of food are a bit too high and Nigerians are groaning under the pain.
As part of efforts to reduce prices, he said government would look into the unnecessary delay being experienced by truck drivers on the nation’s highways in the hands of security agents.
The minister said, “One of the things we found out is that the cost of transportation is becoming extremely high especially because most of our transportation is by road and diesel prices have gone up and trucks are finding it difficult to move from place to place at old prices.
“So we considered the following alternatives: using railway wagons along the current railway network. As we did before when we moved cattle from North West to Lagos, we brought down the cost and avoided the multiple taxation on transporters by local governments which delay movement.
“We have decided to work with the state governments and the police to reduce delays.
“We are going to adapt what they have in Ivory Coast. Trucks carrying foods are given labels. In fact, in Ivory Coast, they cannot be stopped for more than 10 minutes anywhere.
(Punch)
