By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse
The federal government has expressed concern of er the rising cost of basic essential food items in the country amidst reported drop prices, blaming marketers for the development.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Sen. Abubakar Habu Kyari, who expressed the government’s concern during the 2025 Wheat Farmers’ Green Field Day in Dabi community, Ringim local government area of Jigawa state on Tuesday, however, expressed the government’s determination to engage the relevant stakeholders to address the issue.
At an event attended by the state governor Umar Namadi, the minister described as “unpatriotic and acceptable” that at a time when prices of some essential food items were dropping in the market, yet marketers and dealers were not taking measures to reflect the new market realities.
According to him, “The federal government is aware of the sugniicant drop in prices across major markets, particularly for the essential goods such as flour, sugar, rice and spaghetti.
“However, it is deeply concerned that many retailers, marketers and shop owners have refused to effect reduction in the selling of their commodities, thereby denying Nigerians the relief they deserve.
“In the previous months, stakeholders in the food supply chain raised concern over rising cost of food items of food items and now that the prices have dropped we expect a concomitant drop in the prices of such items.
“The prices of flour for instant has dropped from N81, 000 to below N 60, 000 per bag today and spaghetti from N 20, 000 to N 15, 000, so its only fair and just that consumers benefit from these reductions.”
The minister, however restated the government’s commitment in ensuring food availability and would continue to engage with relevant stakeholders to addressing the issues.
He, therefore, urged all retailers marketers and shop owners to reflect the current market realities in the pricing of their commodities to ease the burdens in Nigerians as exploitation of consumers, “at a time when relief is mostly needed is most unpatriotic and unacceptable to the federal government.”
Kyari however, lauded the efforts of the Jigawa state government in revolutionizing agricultural practices in the state, noting governor Namadi had recorded significant in agriculture especially in the areas of rice, sesame, wheat and hibiscus production.
In appreciation of the gesture, the minister handed over to the state government items worth over N 5 billion to support farmers to boost wheat farming in the state. The items included among others 10, 000 water pumps, including their accessories, 10, 000 sprayers, 10,000 litres of herbicides and 10,000 litres of organic fertilizer.
Governor Namadi expressed gratitude to the federal government for its support to the state in the transformation of its agricultural agenda, noting that the state government places more emohasis in agriculture as it’s economic mainstay.
The governor, who listed the achievements recorded under his administration in the last 19 months, however, commended the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu s administration for its continuous engagement with the state government, especially in the area of promotion of agriculture, through it’s various intervention programnes.
The state commissioner for agriculture, Muttaka Namadi, said a transformation in wheat production begun last year in the state with the federal government’s special allocation of agricultural inputs to 80,000 farmers at a subsidized rate. He said the farmers cultivated 40,000 hectares of wheat.
He maintained that to complement the federal government’s effort; the state government supported 16,454 farmers with a N2.23 billion loan, which they agreed to pay back after harvest.
The commissioner said the project was successful, with an 80 per cent recovery rate and attracted revenue of over N8 billion to the state’s economy.
There were goodwill messages from various stakeholders in the agricultural value chain, such as the World Food Programne, (WFP) , National Agricultural Seed Council, (NASC), African Development Bank, (AfDB) as the Emir of Ringim, Dr. Sayyadi Abubakar, all praising the governor’s commitment towards boosting agriculture in the state.
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