AMIDST unprecedented hunger in the country, the Lagos State government has given insights into how it plans to tackle food shortage and inflation and make life abundant for the people in the new year. The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, described the measures to be taken by the government as “very simple and also complex.” However, he said, “We are up to the task.”
Omotoso, speaking to Saturday Tribune, wished Lagosians a happy 2025 and the best in the new year.
He continued, “For people thinking about what we are going to do to tackle food shortage and inflation, this is not the first time we are going to face this kind of challenge. You will recall that last year, we started the Lagos price reduction market, which we called Ounje Eko where people went to buy food items at 25 percent discount. There were particular items that were sold to Lagosians at reduced prices, 25 percent discount. We opened markets on Sundays in almost all the local governments and local council development areas of Lagos. It was really a very good and popular initiative that the governor, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, took at that time.
“So, talking about this year now, from the experience of what we had last year, we can move forward. You know, asking people to come and buy food at reduced prices every Sunday is not enduring, it’s not sustainable, it’s not something that we can keep doing. So, what we are trying to do in Lagos is to do something that is more enduring. In Lagos, we are building the Food and Logistics Hub in Ketu-Ejinrin. It’s going to be, when it is commissioned, the biggest in sub-Saharan Africa and the aim is that all of the post-harvest losses that we are having would be curtailed. Lagos is not a food-production state, but we consume all the food items that are being produced from every part of the country, we consume over 50 percent of it.
“And what we need to do, if you get to some of our markets now, you see how food items are lost due to bad storage. Once Food and Logistics Hub comes up in Ketu-Ejinrin, as I said, it’s going to be the largest in sub-Saharan Africa; those post-harvest losses would be curtailed drastically. And what this means is that we can store food here for as long as possible and once we store food there, what you are seeing now in terms of inflation will no longer be a cause of concern in Lagos because we can decide to release food items from this Food and Logistics Hub to bring down food prices, to stabilise food prices in the market and to ensure that there is no kind of food that you want in Lagos that you won’t get fresh.
“We have been able to demonstrate with the first food hub that we have opened in Mushin. It has served so many people; it serves the best you can find in the land. And it’s not just saying that, it is doing that in an orderly manner, in a hygienic manner, in a manner that gives the customer the pride that he deserves in the food value chain.
“So, this year, because of the success of Mushin, we have built some other ones. The idea is to have that kind of food hub in all local governments, but about five of them are almost ready for commissioning now. These are going to be commissioned this year; they are ready in Ajah, in Agege, in Abule-Ado, in Festac. The idea is that all local governments should have their own so that people can have access to what people in Mushin are enjoying now.
“Like I said, about five of them are ready and once you have all these food and logistics hubs, the problem of people not being able to afford food would be out of it and they would not just be able to buy food, but they would also be able to buy the best.
“We would be there, we are going to be setting up the programme we have in agric, the training of our young people to encourage them to take agriculture as a profession, to encourage them to see agriculture as not just a matter of profession but as a very good service rendered to people.
“Then we are going to be giving people small grants and loans for them to be able to set up small businesses on their own. Last year, we started with about 50,000 people getting N50,000 each. These are small, small traders whose businesses were worth about N10,000, N5,000 and were not really doing much. They got money, grants, loans from the government, N50,000 each for them in all the local governments in the state.
“So, this year, we are going to be doing more of that to encourage Lagosians to be masters of their own game, for them to be able to do businesses that will fetch them money so that they can be less dependent on government. So, I feel, with all these plans, the question of people going to beg for being hungry, I do not think that would arise again.
The prevailing economic hardship in the country has continued to take its toll on many Nigerians. A good number of the citizens groan under the rising prices of food.
A cab driver in a hotel in Bode Thomas, in the Surulere area of Lagos, Rotimi Azeez, said he and many fellow cab drivers had turned to begging to survive. He attributed the situation to the decline in patronage from customers who, according to him, now give preference to tricycles over taxicab. To them, riding on tricycles comes cheaper.
Speaking with Saturday Tribune, he said, “We are not finding it easy. We record low patronage. Unlike in the past when our phones would be buzzing with calls from hotel lodgers and other customers, due to the economic hardship, many of them have turned to tricycles (Keke Marwa) to take them to their various destinations.
“You cannot maintain your dignity and pride in the face of hunger. I beg from those I know I am not supposed to beg from because I have a wife and children to care for. Everybody is now a beggar in Lagos, but the truth of the matter is that we operate on different levels.
“A cabman would beg a hotel lodger for money outside of his normal fare but the lodgers too are not finding it easy. Many of the lodgers now have the contacts of tricycle operators who they call instead of a cab driver. Those that used to order cabs now order Marwa because it comes cheaper. This is rendering us useless and penniless. For a lodger that is going to Lekki, instead of paying at least N13, 000 from Bode Thomas to Lekki, he would opt for Keke Marwa and pay N3,000 to cover the same distance.
“A customer would contact a tricycle operator to take him from Bode Thomas to Costain for N1,500, get a commercial bus to Lekki and pay only N1,000 and from there, he would get a shuttle to his destination for just N500, everything under N3,000.
“But I don’t blame them. It’s about bad government and economy. Many of us have turned to private driving jobs to survive because cab hire service is no longer lucrative. We are gradually leaving the job to take up private driving whose remuneration is guaranteed.”
Many landlords begged for food during Yuletide –CDC chair
The chairman of the Community Development Committee (CDC) of the Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area, Mr Olabowale Kasunmu, described as pathetic, the situation of many, the employed and the unemployed, during the festive season. According to him, people, including landlords, went begging to feed last Christmas.
He said, “The situation of many Nigerians, especially the unemployed, is pathetic. On New Year Day, someone walked into my house to beg for food. I didn’t know the woman; she wasn’t a familiar face. This goes to tell you how bad the economic situation is.
“During the festive season, the CDC distributed rice and other food items to residents, but how far could this take the people? This could not sustain them during the period. It is extremely difficult for community dwellers, both the working and non-working class. Even there are some landlords who cannot afford a meal in a day but you won’t see them come into the open to beg for food. People are really hungry.
“We are hoping that the new year will bring prosperity and economic growth. With what the President said during his media chat, we are hoping that the price of petrol will come down because without this, Nigerians will continue to feel the economic pain.
“We hope that the government will look at its policies and prioritise the wellbeing of Nigerians and create employment for the people. You know southerners, especially south-westerners, have pride; we don’t like begging, but today, many of them are turning to begging to survive.
“The average Southerner has pride but they are throwing their pride into the bin in the face of hunger and have started begging for food. Some people are faking it while some people are making it. How they do it is what we don’t know. We hope that this new year, there will be a positive improvement in our situation.
“The government will need to address the food scarcity and hike in prices of food. Importantly, we need a food bank for the preservation of seasonal foods. This will ensure stable prices and availability all year round.”
‘I live, feed on the street’
A resident of Oshodi, Akin Adeoye, has been unemployed for almost 15 years. He has been living on the benevolence of the people around.
He said, “I have been on the street begging for survival. Since I lost my job almost 15 years ago at a factory in Ijora, I have been on the street and begging from friends and the affluent. I render unsolicited services to the people in the community who offer me stipends in return. I help the bereaved to mourn their dead; I help them to bathe their dead and also assist in the funeral rites and get compensated. Whenever the community’s transformer is faulty, I assist in running errands towards its repair. It is only a lazy and arrogant person that will go hungry in Lagos.”
‘We are graduates but…’
Victor Moses graduated two years ago, but he still seeks refuge in the nest of his parents in Lagos.
He said, “I graduated two years ago. I hope to further my academics, but I haven’t been able to secure the required funds. I haven’t got a job, but I engage in forex trading in some little way. I get somewhat emotional with my situation when I see my peers living independently. I hope that will also be my case soon.”
Olamide Adeleye, another fresh graduate, said: “As a fresh graduate who is not particularly employed, I stay indoors, avoid unnecessary spending and go out only when I have to. I only engage in things that I consider as priority.”
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) put the unemployment rate in Nigeria at 4.3 percent as of the second quarter of 2024. This marked a sharp decrease from 15.3 percent in the first quarter of 2023.
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