Utomi Criticizes FG for Prioritizing Presidential Jet Over Addressing Food Inflation

A Professor of Political Economy and former Presidential Candidate, Pat Utomi, has criticized the President Bola Tinubu-led government for disregarding his advice on addressing food inflation.

He made his feelings known in a social media post on Tuesday.

Utomi was reacting to the measures unveiled by the Federal Government to reduce the prices of food items across Nigeria.
Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, had said certain imported food items through land and sea borders will be suspended.

He had said: “There will be a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities: suspension of duties, tariffs and taxes for the importation of certain food commodities through land and sea borders. These commodities include maize, husked brown rice, wheat and cowpeas. Imported food commodities will be subjected to a Recommended Retail Price (RRP).”

Kyari stated that the government would not compromise the safety of the various food items for consumption.
In addition to the importation by the private the Federal Government would import 250,000mt of wheat and 250,000mt of maize.

Reacting to the development via X, Utomi said the Tinubu government chose to focus on presidential jets, Lagos-calabar highway, SUVs for lawmakers rather than sort food inflation.

He wrote: “I woke up at 2am to do the KAKAAKI interview this morning but the chill of the wrong policies announced yesterday for the agriculture sector has not let me return to sleep. Do we forget so quickly?

“How poor trade policy with the ascendance of Oil income caused cash crop farmers to abandon the farms to the non tradable goods sector as messengers and construction workers and when Oil price volatility resulted in construction firms not being paid on time triggering their retrenchment.

“They did not go back to farms and we became a mono product economy. Now we want to make dependence on food imports permanent when we do not have the money to pay for the imports. We are inviting a famine.

“Months ago I pleaded that this food price inflation should be combated with Forest rangers being deployed to fertile territories and farmers given input incentives managed by NGOs and not corrupt government officials so that they can focus on legumes that can be harvested in three months and the markets flooded with food.

“Instead we focused on Presidential Jets, Lagos-Calabar Highway, SUVs for the National Assembly and Presidential motorcades of 100 vehicles. The height of unwisdom. Now the chickens have come home to roost and we want to inflict long term structural damage in panic incentives. God Save Our Souls.”