Economic Hardship: Gov. Buni’s Bold Steps Yield Positive Results

Economic Hardship:  Gov. Buni’s Bold Steps Yield Positive Results

By Hussaini Ibrahim Sulaiman

As Nigeria is grappling with the hike in the prices of foodstuff posing grave concern for both consumers and policymakers, the Yobe State government under the able leadership of governor Mai Mala Buni has deployed a range of policy instruments to address the immediate, medium and long-term challenges posed by the soaring food prices.

Governor Buni has for long been reaching out to large numbers of vulnerable people with food and non-food items as palliatives through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) among other possible means.

The prices of foodstuff have from December 2023 to early January been increasing with the hike in prices of foodstuff risen to 100 percent. For example, the price of 100kg of maize that was hitherto sold at the cost of N25, 000 between October to November 2023, rose to a record price of over 60, 000 across most of the major grain markets in the state.

To quell the rise in the prices, the Buni administration has on Saturday 10 February, 2024, convened an emergency meeting on Food Security in Damaturu, Yobe State capital with all the relevant stakeholders ranging from grain dealers and sellers, state and local government officials, traditional rulers and security operatives where a five-point communiqué was issued, signed and read by the Commissioner of Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Hon Abdullahi Bego.

The communiqués reads: “Concerned with the prevailing rise in the prices of grains and other essential commodities across the state and the country, His Excellency the Executive Governor of Yobe State, Hon. Mai Mala Buni CON (Chiroman Gujba) convened an emergency meeting to deliberate on the issue today Saturday 10th February, 2024.

“The state government notes and decries the practice of hoarding grains and other essential commodities in the state with a view to creating artificial scarcity and hiking the prices of such grains and other essential commodities.

“The meeting deliberated extensively on the prevailing cost of living crisis across the state and the country and came up with the following measures; to stem the tide of food scarcity and high cost of grains and other food items resulting from bulk purchases from Yobe’s grain markets by people who take those grains outside our nation’s borders, the State Government has liaised with security agencies to discourage practices.

“The State Government has also taken measures to stop the hoarding of grains and other essential commodities by businessmen and middlemen. To this end, bulk purchase of grains from Yobe’s markets will be closely monitored by security agencies to prevent and stop hoarding. The purchase and transportation of large quantities of grains outside the state will be similarly monitored to ensure that speculators and hoarders do not take advantage of Yobe’s markets to cause artificial scarcity and deepen food insecurity in the country.

“The Yobe State Government will roll out concrete measures very soon to cushion the effects of the rising cost of foodstuff and other essential commodities for people across the state.

“A broad meeting of stakeholders will be similarly convened immediately in each local government area to further discuss the food security situation in the respective local government councils in order to generate workable ideas for how to address the challenges.

“His Excellency Governor Mai Mala Buni calls on people across the state to continue to offer prayers and supplications for Almighty Allah’s intervention on the current challenges in the country.”

However, the measures and interventions by Buni administration especially on hoarding and bulk purchase out of the state to cause hardship yielded positive results as markets from across the state responded with encouraging drop in the prices weekly market of Ngelzarma of Fune local government and Babbangida, the headquarters of Tarmuwa local government among other areas that operate on Saturday. The same story happened a day after precisely on 11th February, 2024 where most Sunday weekly markets witnessed a sharp drop in the prices of grains.

A grain buyer in Buni-Yadi, Mallam Bawa while speaking on the drop said, “It is true that prices of foodstuff witnessed sharp drop on the first and second week of February, 2024 with a 100kg of bag of beans that were hitherto sold at the cost of N105, 000 dropped to N80, 000 to N85, 000 while maize which cost over N60, 000 were now sold at the cost of N53, 000 to N55, 000.

“I am not an economist but I believe government measures may be the reason though, they should also create measures that will sustain the drop by releasing more grains from their strategic stores.”

Also, a grain retailer, Suleiman Ali affirmed that he was at Potiskum, Dawasa, Machina and Babbangida weekly markets at the week of the government pronouncement on the hike on the prices of food stuff but the policy of monitoring of hoarding of grains by the security agencies among other measure has played a significant role in controlling the increase.

“As someone who rely on buying and selling of grains to earn a living, i was at Potiskum, Dawasa, Machina and Babbangida during the pronouncement by government but, to our surprise most markets responded though, the same happened in Kano at that particular week hence it may not be unconnected with the efforts of governments across all levels.”