I’ll not bow to pressure on food importation, says President Tinubu

Nigeria’s president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has declared that he will not bow to pressure over the persistent calls in quarters to open the country’s border for massive importation of food.

Tinubu said this on Thursday, following a meeting with the 36 state governors, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, National Security Adviser, NSA, and Director General of the Department of State Services, DSS, in Abuja.

Tinubu is coming under intense pressure to declare Nigerian borders open for foreign foods to come into the country as part of measures to clip the wings of the raging inflation that has rattled the prices of food, other goods, transportation, and services across the 36 states of the federation, including the FCT.

Speaking on the call to open the borders to allow the importation of food, President Tinubu stated emphatically that he will not allow speculators and hoarders to detail the efforts of his government to provide adequate food for Nigerians.

“We cannot allow speculators, hoarders, and rent seekers to undermine our efforts in ensuring that food is widely available to all Nigerians,” Tinubu said on X

The President posted: “I will not establish a price control board, nor will I approve the importation of food. We must extricate ourselves from this predicament because importation only enables rent seekers to perpetrate fraud and mismanagement at our collective expense.

“Instead, we will support our farmers with schemes that encourage them to cultivate more food for the nation. We must also rapidly but thoughtfully implement our livestock development and management plans, including dairy farming and others.”