In USA, Wale Edun says food inflation slowing down as citizens still grone in hunger

*FG’s revenue up, economy in right direction – Finance Minister

*Official statistics show inflation stands at 3.62% in March, showing decline of 0.17% from February 2024

*Within your mind, you know Nigerians are still hungry – Respondents

*List why inflation, hardship in Nigeria are beyond official economic theories

*As they say politically empowered hoodlums running parallel govt in Lagos, Ogun, other states of Tinubu’s region

By KEMI KASUMU

“You cannot use police to arrest them because those agberos have been so empowered or structured – by the same people we voted as president, governors and local government Chairmen – to be more powerful than the constitutional police agency we all know.”

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, has said the Nigerian economy is moving in the right direction as, according to him, policies of the new administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu have started slowing down food inflation.

The minister spoke virtually on Channels Television’s Business Incorporated programme on Tuesday from Washington DC where he is currently attending the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings.

Edun said himself and Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, are in Washington DC to showcase the progress made so far in the Nigerian economy.

The finance minister said, “The Economic Team of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is here to showcase the progress so far of his bold, courageous and strategic reforms of the Nigerian economy in order to get it stabilise and get investment in to get it growing again.

“We’ve all seen what has happened in terms of stabilising the exchange rate and inflation which is headed in the right direction.

“If you look closely at the numbers that came out yesterday (Monday), you will see that there is a slowing of the rate of increase of food inflation, things are moving in the right direction, government revenues are up, even oil revenues are up but not as much as we will like.”

Prices of food and basic commodities have gone through the roof in the last weeks, as Nigerians battle one of the country’s toughest economic crises sparked by the current government’s twin policies of petrol subsidy removal and unification of forex windows.

Statistics

However, on Monday, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed that the food inflation rate in March 2024 stood at 3.62%, showing a decline of 0.17% from February 2024, when it was 3.79%. But the report showed that for year-on-year, food inflation reached 40.01% in March 2024, marking an increase of 15.56 percentage points from 24.45% in March 2023.

Conversely, the NBS said Nigeria’s inflation rate jumped to 33.20% in March 2024 compared to February 2024 headline inflation rate which was 31.70%.

The inflation for March 2024 was largely driven by increase in food such as garri, millet, yam, bread coupled with energy and housing costs.

The inflation report by the NBS followed the hike of Nigeria’s interest rate from 22.75% to 24.75% by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the apex bank.

Interestingly, the March inflation rate was released at a time when measures by the apex bank to strengthen the naira against foreign exchange have seen some positive results.

The naira has appreciated against the dollar in recent weeks, gaining over 40%, from about N1,900/$ to about N1,100/$1 now.

As the naira rebounds, Nigerians expect significant reduction in the prices of food and basic commodities but this hasn’t been the case with cost of living still high.

Reality on ground

The DEFENDER reports that in especially Lagos, Ogun and other states of South West Region, where Presidebt Tinubu and Minister Edun as well CBN Governor Cardoso come from, activities of hoodlums and agberos empowered by state political powers otherwise called the non-state actors continue to create setback for people’s personal economy in Africa’s most populous country.

In Ogun State, several unconstitutional uniform persons, acting under local government approval, now mount road blocks stopping and extorting mass transport vehicles, tricycles and okada, that is, commercial motorcycles operators helping Nigerian citizens on movements in their daily business.

An okada man, once extorted, told The DEFENDER that, “Many of us are into okada and keke riding because we do not want to steal or join ritualist gangs, to feed our families. But now, we only make money to feed the pockets of agberos and petrol sellers.

“The other day they told us that it was because dollar was high that fuel went up and food prices were high. From N1,800 to $1, foreign exchange is now N1,000 to $1 and we are still crying from the pains and pangs of hunger,” the okada man said in Yoruba.

“So much so that we are now told by the agberos to show our okada’s paper for renewed plate number. Some of us into bus transportation are also asked to produce papers for their renewed ‘change of ownership’ which they say is now needed to be done yearly,” he said unanimously.

Another respondent, a woman citizen not willing to be identified, also said in a street opinion sampling of reactions to the minister’s statement at the IMF/World Bank meeting, provided other details.

“Let me also add to what you just heard from that man before it became my turn to talk. The same thing they do in the markets, which Iyaloja General is daughter of the President of this country. If you witness how agberos, whom I call touts, force market people to prey into their extortion, you would ask ‘is this a country so much talked about in the world or not?’

“How can a minister, a Yoruba man like Edun then go to the same people that asked them to inflict these hardships on us now go back to them in America and say Nigeria is now good, food is now cheaper while the economy is improving, when they know in their own minds that we are still suffering from high cost of food, fuel and other necessities of life?” She asked with anger.

Others, who also spoke, listed reasons inflation and hardships in Nigeria currently are beyond official economic theory.

They want the America-based IMF and World Bank to which, according to them, the Tinubu’s government has returned the country, to know that activities of politically empowered hoodlums, who are running parallel govt in Lagos, Ogun and other states of South West region the president comes from, will never allow the Nigerian economy rebound.

One of them provided a way out. “Simply stop these anti-peoole activities of agberos and other touts you claim to be compensating for helping your elections from coming into the consciousness of the people in our public life of markets, road transport and community economies.

“These people are the reason house rent is difficult and prices of food and cost of transportation are so high unaffordably in Lagos, Ogun and others.

“You cannot use police to arrest them because those agberos have been so empowered or structured – by the same people we voted as president, governors and local government Chairmen – to be more powerful than the constitutional police agency we all know.

“So, if you see us rejecting the idea of Stare Police, this is the reason. Who would these same political office holders recruit into the State Police if not the same hoodlums?

“The IMF and World Bank should come out clean and clear to Wale Edun and the Tinubu administration he represents, if this way of making hoodlums more powerful than the constitutional police force and parralel government by them is how democratic system in all ramifications is run in their own western countries,” he said.