This became more noticeable last week when people in Lagos and its environs were thrown into a state of panic due to non availability of essential ingredients like; tomatoes, pepper, onion and so on.
Most homes have to do their meals without these essential ingredients.
This was so due to the renewed upsurge of violence in Jos which spread round Bauchi with panics in other locations which happens to be the source region for these food items.
On investigation the shortage of food was due to protests from the truck owners on the high extortions of money from the various government agencies spanning from the Police force, customs, NDLEA, Road Mashall, various inter states Local Government task forces and others which lined every 100 meters on the road from the North to Lagos.
These various extortions according to most of the drivers interviewed increase the hours they spend in getting to Lagos, besides this there is loss of their gains.
Musa one of the drivers interviewed was so crossed when he narrated how his brother lost his life and fortunes last year in an attempt to avoid these disturbances and opted to travel by night and he was unfortunate as he was robbed by armed robbers who snuffed life out of him.
This situation is so pathetic as I was made to know that some who choose the night journey ended up ending their life through accident as a result of bad roads which our highways are known for.
As a result of this the prices of food items went out of reach of many people for instance the tomatoes that had previously been sold for N100 was sold for as high as N1,000 and more pieces of others like carrot, onion ,yam and so on went beyond the reach of the masses.
This panicky situation was almost getting out of hand as while some who have old stocks were making a huge profit on their sales, the fact remain that if the stock is exhausted how will they replenish their stocks?
The untold hardships this scene has created in most home is alarming as these essential ingredients are as scarce as the eyes as such the few areas where this foodstuffs are available they were quickly gobbled up by the few people who could afford them, food item which ordinarily people not have touched due to the fact that they are either rotten or not fresh enough were bought at cut throat prices.
The buyers were groaning the few traders who were privileged to have old stocks were brimming and smiling to the bank and giving praises to God for abundant of blessings, due to high returns on sales.
Shortly after all these scarcity and drama, there were avalanche of trailers and truck at major entry points to Lagos this is particularly noticeable at “Mile 12” market this caused heavy congestion at the place that it takes nothing less than four hours to commute between the market and the adjourning “Mile 12” market.
This caused another frictions as prospective retailers are struggling with the end buyers to purchase from the trucks this cause a lot of delays and as such by the following day the truck could not offload and various other truck were arriving at the end most of the trucks which offloaded have most of their goods destroyed due to the scourging effects of both the buyer and seller.
The question that comes to heart is: why have we gone so lazy and forgetful that we ignored our Agricultural background?
Those days the agricultural science Teacher allots a portion of Land to each student to farm on. This forms part of your of your assessment for the term, the good ones get good marks and those with bad farm products get poor marks.
Let us inculcate this back into school curriculum for the future leaders who are yet unborn for them. To avoid a situation whereby our children will believe north is the only place where you can get these basic things.
Our government is allocating land for foreigners for farming and free trade zone. After harvesting their product they export to their country and we are here struggling for what rightful belong to us.
The government should support our local farmers with the required visible tools and stop deceiving the citizenry with their ‘paper allocated’ fertilizers and tractors (which they did not buy).
The Agric loan disbursed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should be utilized and monitored for its purpose rather than using to “owambe” parties.
Our Agricultural background is fading away gradually due to our unbridled way of life. We are Africans with dignity. Let us display this with pride by doing the right thing. We are the pace setter.
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