Consumption Of Locally Produced Food
able to attend to you because this place will be filled with people buying chicken and the likes. But since morning, I have seen only three customers and they even bought fish not chicken. Although, we sell the Nigerian chicken too, however, it does not sell as fast as those other ones that we call
orobo and turkey.
“Also, the price difference is almost double compared to before. A carton of chicken before the border closure was N9,000, but is now N15, 000/N16, 000. A carton of turkey used to go for N12, 000 but is now between N17, 000 and N18, 000 and that is if you see because it is now hot cake. Nigerian chicken was the same price as the imported one before the closure. It has even become cheaper now but still people aren’t buying. Customers complain that the chicken is too soft and doesn’t stay ‘firm’ in the pot. The people that are still using it are people who do barbecue or fry it because that way, it will manage to stay a little firm.”
A frozen foods trader at the Daleko market who pleaded anonymity said sales have been affected by the closure. “For some days now, we haven’t been able to bring in turkey, fish, shrimps and the likes, so we are selling just Nigerian chicken and orobo chicken. Nigerian full chicken is N1, 400 while a kilo of orobo and normal chicken is N1, 600. I will support good policies in so far as they don’t affect business but this one is spoiling business for us. Festive season is around the corner and the government had better put things in place properly before then if they don’t want people to revolt. Rice is now so expensive and the local alternatives are unavailable and also expensive. What do they want Nigerians to do?” he asked rhetorically.
Mrs. Matilda Abiama, who was at Ikotun market buying chicken during the week said: “There is almost nothing we can do about the closed border, which has made it impossible for us to have the regular frozen food in the conventional market, compelling us to buy Nigeria chicken and others. Nobody would have had any problem with Nigeria frozen food if they were as good as the imported ones. Nigeria chicken is too soft and tasteless. So, people have resorted to buying beef and fish more, especially the low class Nigerians who have to heat their soup or stew on fire twice everyday because they don’t have refrigerator or deep freezer to preserve their food. I believe people are trying to come to terms with the situation and find a way to make do with what is available to us,” she said. A food vendor, Mrs. Adekunle Oluwaremilekun, said she has switched to Nigerian rice because foreign rice has become too expensive, adding that her customers complain each time she prepares stew with Nigerian chicken.
“There is no much problem with buying Nigerian rice, because our rice kind of taste better than some of these foreign rice. So, I don’t have issues with cooking Nigerian rice. However, the chicken is a problem because I can no longer add chicken in my stew. The only time I added Nigerian chicken in my stew since the border closure, my customers complained. I kept explaining to them that the border is closed and that the available Nigerian chicken is too soft. A lot of people are not used to the texture and taste of our indigenous chicken,” she said
Mrs. Leke, who was seen trying to buy frozen chicken shared her thoughts with
The Guardian, saying: “I know this border closure is to help grow our economy, but the thing is some of us are finding it difficult to cope with the Nigerian alternative. For instance, we don’t fry our chicken or meat or fish in our house. Now, the Nigerian chicken is better when fried or grilled, which means for now no chicken for us. We are told that red meat is not good for the body. Are we expected to live only on fish and eggs?
“I feel the government should have first ensured that our own goods and produce are not only readily available but are also of international standards before closing the border. Also, the Nigerian chicken being produced, is it enough to meet demand? It’s one thing to want to encourage self-sufficiency, but let us do that sensibly. Neither the quality nor quantity is at par with what we want but they still went ahead to take this decision. As usual, it is the poor people that are affected.”
A live chicken and turkey seller who pleaded anonymity insisted that the Nigerian chicken is not as bad as it is being portrayed. “For us selling the Nigerian chicken, sales are not bad. In fact, it has improved in the last two months although we get complaints that it’s not as good as the imported one. I will state categorically that the chicken is not as bad as they are saying.
“The only thing to note is that when cooking it, ensure you use less water than you would normally use for the imported one and it is best fried or grilled. Also, I would advise that you buy it when you need it and not in bulk and you would be fine. The taste is as great if not even better than the frozen one as it is fresher,” she said.
Zainab Kareem, who sells frozen foods at Ikotun market, decried bad sales. She said: “Once customers realise you don’t have foreign chicken, they walk away to meat and fish sellers. It’s frustrating. I am beginning to incur loss, so I am compelled to do a lot of talking. I teach them how to cook the chicken for it to taste good but there’s nothing we can do about the softness,” she said.
At Igando New Market, another frozen foods dealer, who identified herself as Iya-ibeji, told
The Guardian that she has stopped selling because most consumers have opted for live chickens in place of imported frozen chickens and turkeys.
When The Guardian visited Igando Multipurpose Market, a rice seller on duty, who simply identified himself as Ekelemchukwu, disclosed that he had five bags of Thai-parboiled rice remaining in his store, adding that he plans to keep it until it is worth N30,000 in the market. He was very optimistic that the opportunity would soon come in view of the fact that festive season is fast approaching.
He, however, called on the government to help boost the local production of rice in the country so as to meet the high demand for the commodity by consumers. Why Government Should Sustain Policy, By PAN, Others In a telephone conversation with The
Guardian, the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Lagos State Chapter Chairman, Mr. Godwin Igbede, said that smuggling of chicken into the country has reduced, adding that it would further decline by one million tonnes annually if the Federal Government sustains the border closure.
According to him, the closure has not only created market for locally produced poultry, but has also created jobs in the last one month.
“There has been great impact but it cannot be translated now because the farmers do not have the much needed finance to sustain production, a reason we are trying to work with the Anchor Borrower Programme.”
He further stated that there was a shortfall in production. “I got a call from the Vice Chairman of Ijora Frozen Foods Dealers Association to produce for them. He said they needed serious intervention now with local chickens but the farmers cannot produce because they are incapacitated financially,” Igbede added.
The PAN chief is of the view that local farmers should have been allowed to close the gap before the ban. “Closing the borders is a good thing but the gap is not closed. When the gap is not closed, people will always find their way round things. Frozen foods are still being smuggled into the country, but it is at a higher cost now.
The Ijora dealers prefer the locally produced chickens than the imported frozen ones but farmers can’t meet their demand now,” Igbede stated.
Regional Coordinator of Africa Rice Centre, an international research institute on the campus of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, however, said the policy is a right step in the right direction if the government could perfect the process with quality seed mechanism, identification and empowerment of real farmers, and massive investments in irrigation infrastructure at the state levels.
Border Closure Ought Not Affect Prices Of Locally Produced Goods, Say Enugu Residents From Lawrence Njoku, Enugu
AT a shop on Ogui road, Enugu last Thursday, a customer had queried the shop owner over the increase in the price of a detergent brand, which he claimed he purchased at a lower price two weeks back.
The shop owner, Mrs Oguche, had simply told him, “My brother, I don’t manufacture detergents. Since they closed the borders, prices of commodities in the market have continued to increase.”
Oguche had taken those who came to patronise her that morning on a lecture about how prices of commodities have continued to increase daily.
“Commodities are beginning to top one naira, two naira everyday. Anybody you ask will tell you that the Federal Government closed the borders. So, what it means is that some of the things we were enjoying at reduced prices were actually smuggled commodities. Now that the importers have to pay the approved rates, the final consumer is the one bearing the cost. That is as it is. I cannot chase my customers away by increasing my price arbitrarily, rather what we buy is what we sell,” she stated.
Mrs Oguche was not alone. Oluchi, a student of the Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT), said food items were not left out, stressing that it affected prices of melon, crayfish, fruits and even meat.
“You need to see what I bought last
“There is no much problem with buying Nigerian rice, because our rice kind of taste better than some of these foreign rice. So, I don’t have issues with cooking Nigerian rice. However, the chicken is a problem because I can no longer add chicken in my stew ”