Buhari gives reasons for food inflation

President Muhammadu Buhari has ideny insecurity and flood as reason for food inflation in the country.

This was made known in a statement signed by President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in celebration of Eid-el-Kabir message to Nigerians.

He assured that his administration is working hard to address food inflation occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect of floods on agricultural activities in the country.

The President noted that floods had caused large-scale destruction to agricultural farmlands, thereby “impacting negatively on the efforts to boost local production in line with our policy to drastically reduce food importation.

He added that no government in Nigeria’s recent history has invested as much as they are doing to promote local production of about 20 other commodities, through the provision of loans and several other forms of support to our farmers.”

Buhari also mentioned that the current insecurity in the country “has produced severe and adverse effects on agriculture because farmers are prevented from accessing their farms by bandits and terrorists”.

He reassured Nigerians that his administration had taken measures to address the nation’s security challenges.

“We have started taking delivery of fighter aircraft and other necessary military equipment and hardware to improve the capacity of our security forces to confront terrorism and banditry,” he said.

The president explained that aside from the destruction caused to rice farms by floods, middlemen had also taken advantage of the local rice production to exploit fellow Nigerians.

He explained that this has further undermined their efforts of supporting local food production at affordable prices.