By Glorious Adejuwon
The House of Senate on Tuesday called upon the federal government to address the looming food crisis in the nation and promptly circulate information to the Nigerian populace concerning the measures to be implemented.
The final decision of the Red Chamber was based on a motion titled “Urgent Need to Address Food Insecurity and Market Exploitation of Consumables in Nigeria,”which was sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi of Kogi West and co-sponsored by Senator Ali Ndume of Borno South, who also serves as the Chief Whip of the Senate.
The House of Senate noted that over the past few months, goods and household consumables have seen a significant rise in prices in the country, leading to hyperinflation, weakened buying capacity, and a general diminishing in the living conditions of the significant majority of Nigerians.
The lawmakers also stressed that current data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics shows how food inflation has skyrocketed to 40.66 percent year-on-year, a sharp increase from the 24.82 percent recorded in May 2023.
The Senate declared its awareness that the current market prices of food items such as beans, maize, rice paddy, yam, tomatoes, and onions, which initially rose by about 40% following the removal of petroleum subsidies, have now increased by over 100% to 300%, without any obvious reason for these outrageous increase in price.