By BASHIR ADEFAKA
Although it acknowledged on Tuesday that the current rising cost of living in Nigeria was inherited from the previous administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, the sitting Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government says it has uncovered 32 routes through which food items are smuggled out of Nigeria.
The DEFENDER recalls that Buhari’s administration was known for investing in production of food with a policy to make Nigerians consume Made-in-Nigeria food commodities, which many Nigerians refused to take as they always went for imported food such as rice whether through sea port or land border.
Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed the routes for smuggling Nigerian food items out to other countries, on Tuesday, while addressing a conference on Public Wealth Management held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He said on the midnight of Sunday, 45 trucks loaded with maize were intercepted while making their way to neighbouring countries.
The Vice President said, “Just three nights ago, 45 trucks of maize were caught being transported to neighbouring countries. Just in that Ilela axis, there are 32 illegal smuggling routes. And the moment those food stuff were intercepted, the price of maize came down by N10,000. It came down from N60,000 to N50,000.
“So, there are forces that are hell-bent on undermining our nation but this is the time for us to coalesce into a singular entity,” he said.
Shettima, who acknowledged that Nigeria is passing through turbulent time, assured the people of the country that the pain will not last forever.
He, however, condemned a situation whereby some persons fuel the embers of division and violence because of the current situation.
“We have to make this country work. We have to move beyond politics. We are now in the face of governance. Sadly, some of our countrymen are still in the political mode. They are the practitioners of violence, advocating that Nigeria should go the Lebanon way. But, Nigeria is greater than anyone of us here. Nigeria will weather the storm.
“Forces are hell-bent on plunging this country into a state of anarchy. Those who could not get to power through the ballot box, instead for them to wait till 2027, are so desperate,” he said.
