GOOD NEWS As Price Of Rice Drops To N10, 000/Bag; SEE Where To Buy It Cheap [Details]
These days haven’t been the best of times for Nigerian families who cope with the recent hardship occasioned by the dramatic hike in the prices of goods and services.
Several of them, according to reports, have lamented that their income could no longer take care of their daily needs, especially with the price of one of the commonest consumed staples in the country, rice, rising to N77, 000 per bag.
However, the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, yesterday, considered this plight and initiated a nationwide sale of seized items, with a bag of rice being auctioned at the price of N10, 000.
During a press briefing held yesterday in Lagos to kickstart the sale of the food items, the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Bashir Adeniyi, emphasized that the initiative demonstrates the service’ s continuous dedication to protecting food security and guaranteeing the accessibility of vital food items in the nation.
He mentioned that the NCS had received government approval to distribute the confiscated food items to deserving Nigerians at reduced prices. The Intended beneficiaries are artisans, teachers, nurses, religious bodies, and other Nigerians.
Bashir said: In recent months, the government has been addressing the challenges faced within our economy, particularly the lagged effects of insecurity and the current exchange rate Issues.
“These challenges have exacerbated concerns about food security, leading to a concerning trend where food items are moving out massively to neighbouring countries.
Some of the items include: Over 20,000 bags of assorted grains (rice, beans, maize, guinea corn, millet, soya beans, 2, 500 cartons and 963 bags of dried fish. Others include: Dried pepper, tomatoes, cooking oil, maggi, macaroni, salt, sugar, garri. This trend is not sustainable as it puts pressure on our productive capacity. and threatens our food security.
“One concerning trend noticed is the outflow of food items in huge quantities, posing a threat to our food security. It should be noted that the condition for the export of any item is only met upon fulfilling sufficiency internally. In this regard, food items deemed not to fulfil these conditions are showing up in our interceptions made at the borders.”
(PUNCH)
