The Chairman of Mile 12 International Market Lagos, Shehu Jibrin has blamed the acute scarcity of tomatoes and peppers leading to more than 500 percent increase prices on insecurity in the country and infestation of diseases. Jibrin made the disclosure during an interview with Channels TV on Monday, monitored by Africa Health Report.
In the recent times, according to an investigation by our correspondent, prices of both tomatoes and peppers have soared high across the country making many Nigerians to stretch their pockets beyond the limit.
While responding to questions on the price hike, Jibrin noted that the supply of tomatoes and peppers to Lagos from other states has dropped significantly due to insecurity and plant diseases.
He said, “Except the government tackles insecurity, the problem of high prices of tomatoes and peppers will remain unsolved.
“This is the off-season now, so we expect tomatoes to come from Ilaro, Ogbomosho, Abeokuta, Osun, and part of Cameroon to come to Lagos. Unfortunately, the ones from Cameroon, Ogbomosho, and Abeokuta are late. The ones from Cameroon cannot feed the nation. The demand is high, but the supply is insufficient.
“We expect tomatoes from the North to be available at this time, but because of the tomato Ebola disease, we cannot have sufficient supply.
“Let’s assume that we have 5000 farmers in the country, less than 1500 are farming with their eyes closed. Most farmers in the North are currently in internally displaced camps.”, he noted.
Jibrin said that if Nigeria could not tackle insecurity problems, the prices of tomatoes, peppers, and other perishables would continue to go up, adding that farmers are now afraid of going to the farm due to insecurity.
“Farmers are not going to the farm due to insecurity. There is no solution except for farmers going to the farm,” he concluded.
