The recent directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to restrict forex on food items being imported into the country has stirred varying responses from the stakeholders. While the protagonists of development of the local agriculture welcomed the decision, another group is of the opinion that the country has not reached that stage to disband the import of essential food items. Still, others question the intervention of the government in the affairs of the central bank, which takes away the independence of the bank, a must in a country like Nigeria where external trade constitutes a major chunk of the trading volume.
Mr Buhari recently directed CBN to impose forex restrictions on imported foods when he was speaking to APC governors during Eid-el-Kabir in Daura, Katsina State. He also claimed that his administration had achieved food security.
The support for Buhari’s statement has come with a rider from its supporters that the President in the coming days should walk the talk and go beyond pronouncement of the scheme and implement the scheme in letter and spirit. Otherwise, they opine that it might become counterproductive creating a special class of vested interests who will corner the bank loans and engage in agriculture to become sole suppliers to make the other sections depend on them all the time.
People also, argue that the country has yet to have the capacity to produce for the entire population of 200 million people. For instance, the demand for food would far outstrip the demand, which can lead to inflation. But the general mood of the people seems to be supportive of the direction since it would create a new urgency among the banks and financial institutions in the country to give loan access to farmers and even reduce the interest rates. With the tight government monitoring in place, they feel that the loans can flow to the right target group, which can help the country to become self-sufficient at least in food production and in processing its cash crops, which are perishable.
