Agriculture
Union Blames High Foodstuffs’ Prices On Illegal Levies
The Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN), Rivers State chapter has attributed high cost of foodstuffs and meat in the state to illegal levies by miscreants on highways of the state.
The union also attributed high cost of foodstuff in the state to lack of transport fare, control by governments in the country.
The State Chairman of the Union, Mr Sunny Opara made this known in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.
Opara, who expressed worries over the illegal multiple taxation in the state, especially in Oyigbo-Aba highway and Ahoada-Bayelsa highway, stated the union’s readiness to resist illegal tax collection on foodstuff and animals in the state.
He said, the union would like to partner with governments and security agencies to rid the highways of illegal tax collection by unofficials in the country.
According to him, some hoodlums usually gang up to mount road blocks on highways to collect levies from truck drivers conveying foodstuffs and animals into the state.
He said, some claim to be state taskforce officials, while some claim to be officials of Federal Government taskforce, to extort money on foodstuffs and that the ugly situation forces some traders to increase the prices of their products to cover up their expenses.
We must resist illegal tax collection on foodstuffs and animals on highways especially in Rivers state.
“We must support security agencies and governments to clamp down on those claiming to be taskforce to collect money from our members, because we have found out that both the State Government and Federal Government did not set-up such taskforce to harrass traders on the roads.
“We must defend our members to proudly feed the nation”, he said.
Opara alleged that some of the hoodlums used cutlasses, iron and other dangerous weapons to compel the drivers and traders to pay the levies.
He said vehicle windscreens were sometimes smashed as means of forcing their victims to pay the illegal levies.
The union chairman called on security agencies to intervene to reduce the price of foodstuffs and meats and as well increase the production of foodstuff in the state.
Enoch Epelle
Federal Government and the Ogun State Government, on Wednesday, distributed farm inputs to farmers as part of effort to address food security challenge.
The State Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Toyin Ayo-Ajayi, during the flag-off ceremony of Inputs Redemption Under The National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP), in Ogun State, disclosed that beneficiaries of the gesture were primarily rice, maize and cassava farmers across the State.
Ayo-Ajayi commended the Ogun State Government for partnering with the government at the centre for the effort in supporting farmers with inputs that would bring about yieldings for local consumption and likely exportation.
She noted that government is supporting rice, cassava and maize farmers with inputs worth N212,000; N189,000 and N186,000 respectively.
The Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Kehinde Jokotoye, who represented the Commissioner in the Ministry, Bolu Owotomo, stated that traditional farmers are critical in food production, hence the need to encourage and support them with inputs that would bring about desired results during harvesting.
Owotomo said: “Let us make good use of this opportunity, so that the success of this phase will make farmers benefit more from the state and federal governments of Nigeria.”
Earlier, State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Oluwatoyin Ayo-Ajayi, appreciated the present administration for partnering with the federal government for the initiative, adding that the programme is designed to support farmers at the grassroots level in cassava, rice and maize with inputs such as, seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, to boost their production and enhance their livelihood.