By; SOFIYAH OMOBOLANLE ABDULAZEEZ & ESTHER DOZIE, Kaduna
Traders in Kaduna Central Market have expressed divergent views as reasons for continuous increase in prices of food items and other consumer products.
A cross section of dealers in grains, fruits and vegetables and other edible products expressed worries over instability of prices of staple food, attributing the sad trend to rising insecurity, Inflation, devaluation of Naira, hike in prices of petroleum products among others.
Sarkin Noma, a dealer in grains revealed that activities of bandits and other insurgents had devasted production of grains such as; millet, guinea corn, maize, rice among others, adding that famers could no longer cultivate and harvest farm products due to fear of either being killed or kidnapped.
He disclosed that farmers of agricultural products in Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Niger states were the worst hit by bandits whom he noted imposed levies on hapless villagers before allowing them to access the farm.
” The situation our rural farmers find themselves is sad and pathetic which needs urgent intervention from Government before the whole country is overwhelmed by famine.
” I could remember with nostalgia when we would travel in the night and arrive rural areas before daybreak and buy our products, return without any fear because there was security of lives and property.
” But today, the story has changed and keeps getting worse by the day which has greatly affected production of food items and their prices, ” he lamented.
A retailer, Abubakar Ali in Kaduna Central market grains section observed that since closure of the country’s entry points for food items, prices had skyrocketed, saying the situation would keep deteriorating unless intervening measures were put in place by the present administration.
” It was not a wise decision by the present administration to shut our borders for imported products we cannot locally produce.
” It is only when a country has attained a food sufficiency level, it can close her borders for imported goods.
” The decision taken by this administration wasn’t a wise one and if not reversed dealers and consumers of food will continue to be at the disadvantagous level, ” he said.
Nneka Emeka, a provision seller in the market expressed apprehension at the uncontrollable level of the nation’s inflation, attributing the ugly trend to constant borrowings by the government of the day.
Mrs. Emeka stated that whenever the country collected foreign loan to service her budgets, the currency used by such nation would nosedive, adding that it was never a wise economic decision to borrow for domestic expenditures.
She expressed her worries over what she described as astronomical rise in inflation, occasioned by low purchasing power by consumers, which according to her would have a long term negative effects on generations yet unborn.
” You don’t expect a better future when you borrow and keep bottoming to run your country.
” The domino effects can better be imagined than experienced because it has all potencies to retrogress the whole economic growth of a country, ” he noted.
High interest rate for small and medium scales traders was another negative factor listed by Umaru Shehu as inertia affecting businessmen in different sectors of the Nigerian economy.
He urged the federal government to reverse its finance and banking policies to the advantage of petty traders for economic development and growth.
