Lagos: About 688,793 metric tonnes of bulk wheat have been scheduled for imports and to be supplied to food markets across the country by the end of October 2024. This significant influx of wheat is expected to play a crucial role in reducing the overall cost of food items, making essential products more affordable for citizens.
According to Voice of Nigeria, the food items loaded into seven vessels of various sizes started berthing at four seaports along the nation’s border between Wednesday, October 23, and Wednesday, October 30, 2024, based on a document obtained from the Nigerian Port Authority. The seaports include Apapa and Tincan ports in Lagos State, Calabar Port in Cross Rivers State, and Rivers Port in Rivers State.
Efforts to ascertain if the Federal Government was involved in the importation of any of the wheat vessels were unsuccessful. The federal ministries of agriculture and finance, as well as the Nigerian Customs Service, did not respond to multiple inquiries by news reporters. On July 8,
2024, the government announced a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities to ensure a reduction in food inflation. The commodities included maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas.
The programme aimed to cushion the effects of various factors contributing to food scarcity and price hikes by removing or significantly reducing import duties and value-added tax to encourage food imports and drive down consumer prices. However, the scheme has faced challenges due to bureaucratic processes and the failure of the Federal Ministry of Finance to publish a list of importers qualified to participate in the process.
At an inter-ministerial press briefing on October 1, 2024, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, stated that the government had implemented a stop-gap measure to import wheat and corn. He emphasized that this measure was interim and would not affect local food production. Despite these measures, imported food inflation increased by 8.97 per cent from the 806.0 average price index in July 202
4 to 878.3 in September.
The Central Bank of Nigeria released N1.73tn for food item importation in the first and second quarters of 2024. The NPA document detailed the schedule of vessel arrivals, with the first two vessels carrying 44,946 metric tonnes meant to arrive at the Rivers port on October 23. This was followed by a vessel carrying 18,800mt of wheat on October 24 at the Calabar port, among other scheduled arrivals.
Findings showed that five vessels had already offloaded their content of bulk wheat at Apapa, Tincan, and Calabar, arriving between October 2 and October 18, 2024. The document also noted the import of 19,264MT of feed corn on October 20, indicating the seven vessels were scheduled to bring in 668,793 metric tonnes of wheat.
When contacted, the National Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Customs Service, Abdullahi Maiwada, stated that the service could not ascertain the owner of the imports until the vessels berth. The Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and F
ood Security, and the finance ministry spokesperson did not respond to inquiries on the matter.
Chief Ernest Elochukwu, a former president of the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents, criticized the government for announcing the policy without proper implementation measures. Economist Adegboyega Adebajo also commented on the short-term measure’s failure due to the lack of necessary infrastructure for effective implementation, emphasizing the importance of thinking through decisions before announcements are made.