I have decided to issue an executive order effective today to stop food speculators from invading our local markets to mop up our farm produce to other states and neighboring countries, thereby making things difficult for people of the state and Nigeria as a whole", Governor of Niger State.

Yes, bulk purchase of food items in rural Niger is now illegal. The governor is doing everything to bring calm after a massive protest in Minna over rising food prices and deteriorating economic conditions.

"I have decided to issue an executive order effective today to stop food speculators from invading our local markets to mop up our farm produce to other states and neighboring countries, thereby making things difficult for people of the state and Nigeria as a whole", Niger State… pic.twitter.com/Rj4T5Rijz3

— Ndubuisi Ekekwe (@ndekekwe) February 7, 2024

Whenever I write, I like to offer solutions. I think that Nigeria should reconsider its partial removal of fuel subsidies (and fix the corruption in fuel subsidies). There is no economy without energy, and when the cost of energy is out of the reach of citizens, nations fade. As we deal with that, we must find a solution for insecurity. The ancestral rights of farming are basically gone in most communities in Nigeria as farmers cannot go to farms, due to kidnapping and other vices. That climate is reducing the supply of food items.