What is your take on the removal of forex from agricultural products by FG?

The federal government is mulling over removing forex from agricultural products imported into the country as a means of encouraging local production of such products. This has, no doubt, generated heat in the polity and reactions from Nigerians. OLASUNKANMI OSO and OLUWAYINKA AJE sampled the opinions of people to enquire their take on this. Their views:

Dunsin Ogunmoyela
This is actually a positive plan and good news to local farmers. It would help local farmers to save for future exports and provide protection to agro commodities produced by local producers. However, it is a big hit on importers. It is meant to give importers tough time and difficulty. It does not mean the products are banned in Nigeria. This development is a plus to local farmers. We hope our farmers have enough because of our population. Lastly, my questions are: How would government deal with goods already imported into our country so that sellers would not inflate their prices? And, what plans do they have for local farmers for future export?

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Omotola Kolawole
Forex market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspects of buying, selling and exchanging currencies at current or determined prices. If removed from agro products, the products would have a fixed price around the world. As soon as forex is removed from agro products in Nigeria, it is going to give all products a fixed price both in the rural and urban settlement which would allow government to be able to regulate food and agro commodities in the market.

Akinyemi Adedeji
Removal of forex, for the diversification of the economy, sounds like a sensible thing to do. But, to what end? The problem, with Nigeria, that motivated the forex inclusion—in the first place—is the absence of adequate production of agricultural products. Has this problem been resolved? To what extent has Nigeria been able to mitigate challenges faced by local farmer? At what rate are Nigerian farmers exporting? What is the percentage of Nigerian farm produce in the international market? We cannot build a house on water, not unless we are ready to do the architectural and engineering works involved. Removing forex sounds brilliant. On newspaper headlines, it looks appealing. But like most government decisions, it is brash, unnecessary, and without measures to sustain the changes being proposed.

Iyinoluwa Bankole
Forex ban on agricultural products is a laudable directive. I think that it is a step in the right direction for Nigeria. Nigeria relies greatly on the importation of food because the local agricultural sector lacks the capacity to provide for the populace. Forex ban would cause undue hardship because it limits the availability of food and encourages black-market activity and smuggling. However, it would force the majority of Nigerians to resort to local sources for the provision of food and other agricultural products. It would reduce the volume of naira being exchanged for the dollar, which would have positive effect on our forex rate. The directive is bound to cause some hardship, but sacrifice is a prerequisite for progress.

Folake Olaoye
Nigerians are too dependent on foreign product, which is detrimental to the economy. Thus, this proposal, if implemented would help in boosting our economy. It would enhance the development of our agricultural sector and make us agro ‘source’ country instead of agro ‘destination’ country. Also, it would help in preventing the dumping of dangerous food products in the country, which would help to reduce death rate in the country. I look forward to the implementation of the idea. Though it may not be easy at the beginning, it is going to yield so much positive results.

Olawale Mayomikun
President Buhari’s directive to the Central Bank to stop allocating foreign exchange for food importation is rather premature. The prospect of this policy is untimely. As stated by the presidency, the purpose is to stimulate the growth of agriculture and to ensure food security. According to Nigeria Food Security Outlook, food prices have not been stable across the country in 2019. Most states are marginally able to meet basic food needs and about thirty per cent of the population has been affected by the farmer/pastoralist conflict which is grossly causing inflation. We are far from full food security.

Saray Afolabi
The executive order seems good on a principled level, because while it is supposed to be an incentive for local farmers to produce and sell more, it does not take into consideration the capacity and ability of those farmers. It only creates a situation where a large market is fed by limited number of production sources. Nigeria’s food production is not at the level where we could confidently produce for more than two hundred million people. Before then, we could only provide quotas that guide the importation of food items