…Laments deaths at free-food points
The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately declare a ‘state-of-emergency’ on food nationwide.
OPC, in an issued statement signed by Comrade Bunmi Fasehun, OPC General Secretary, lamented the reported deaths last week of 35 people in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, 20 in Okija area of Anambra State, and 10 in Abuja the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT).
It said, As a matter of national emergency, Tinubu must intervene to bring down food prices to reduce hunger in Nigeria and ameliorate the sufferings of the citizens”.
The group urged the government to open the borders and ports for food to enter Nigeria quickly and that Tinubu must allow free movement of local and imported rice and other food items through the Nigerian highways. “This Government must mandate Customs and other agencies to stop seizing food and to stop hindering the transportation of edibles and consumables, it stressed
Expressing the sympathy of OPC on the tragic incident, Fasehun said the deaths reflected the hopelessness and frustration experienced by a vast majority of Nigerians.
According to him, These avoidable deaths sound a loud and tragic message about the millions of Nigerians who are constantly confronted by crippling starvation and deep poverty. Yet governments at all levels show no concern.
Today, a bag of rice has risen to more than ?100,000, three times its price under Muhammadu Buhari, and about 15 times its value under Goodluck Jonathan. Cooking gas has risen to over N18,000 today, from less than ?10,000 under Buhari, and ?2,000 under Jonathan. The cost of transportation is higher than it has ever been. There is scarcity of Naira notes. Banks are rationing notes, and customers are not able to collect more than ?5,000 to ?20,000 cash per day. This is unacceptable”, he lamented.
According to him, the Government must scrap all policies that have impoverished Nigerians and brought unprecedented economic hardship on poor citizens.
Fasehun further stated that the food crisis was only one of several devastating issues plaguing the nation, including: insecurity marked by kidnappings, armed robbery and insurgencies that have paralysed rural farming communities and disrupted the food supply chain.
Similarly, Fasehun also advised the President to stop security agents from employing obnoxious and archaic laws to gag Nigerians from expressing themselves freely as expected in a democracy.
