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High Cost Of Food, Cooking Gas Angers S’South Residents
Residents in the South-South have sought Federal Government’s intervention in the ever-increasing cost of food items and cooking gas in the region.
The analysts, who made the call in separate interviews, said government should stem the rising cost of the items through proper economic recovery plan and implementation.
They added that Nigerians should assist government in minimising the excesses of middlemen and market associations in hiking the prices of commodities.
The residents also identified the major factors contributing to cooking gas price hike in the nation to include lack of functional refineries and off-takers for gas distribution.
On prices of food, they identified market forces, insecurity, farmer/headers clashes, insurgency, banditry, poor storage facilities and Covid-19 outbreak as causes of food price hike in the country.
Although the analysts appreciated current government’s efforts in solving the problem, they advised that the intervention should be urgent as food was one of the basic necessities of life.
A civil servant in Asaba, Mr Vincent Adeoye, said: ‘’Our challenge has become double in the sense that the cost of food items is high likewise that of cooking gas.
“How do we survive in this present situation when we buy a cup of beans for N150 and one kilogramme of cooking gas for N700?
“Our salaries cannot even feed our families, not to talk of paying school fees and rent. It is only God who helps us to survive.
“The present economy is making things too difficult for us and I will appeal to the government to come to our rescue.”
Also, a civil servant, Mrs Deborah Diai, said she had resorted to using charcoal for cooking since ‘’the price of domestic gas is now within the reach of the rich.
“Three kilogrammes of gas do not last up to five days for me, because we are family of six,” she said.
The Chairman, Ika Liquefied Petroleum Gas Dealers Association, Mr Onyeka Eze, said the increase in the price of domestic gas had affected the consumption of the product in the area.
According to him, before now, a kilogramme of gas sold for between N300 and N320, but in the last six months, the price had gone up to N650 a kilogramme.
“Before this increment, we dispense as much as 100kilogrammes daily, but as at today, it takes us almost three days to sell 50kilogrammes of it”.
Eze urged the Federal Government to intervene in the continual increase of the price of domestic gas.
In Rivers State, a civil rights crusader, Mr Livingston Wechie, urged the government to tackle the situation, saying, ‘’basically, there’s a tremendous hike in cost of living.
“While commodity prices are on the increase, wages and remunerations have remained static even when only a few percentage of the country’s population earn salaries.”
Wechie urged government to reconsider a proper economic recovery plan to ensure that basic commodities for daily survival took precedence over any other infrastructure.
He lamented that the price of domestic cooking gas had gone up from N3,500 to almost N10,000 for 12.5kilogrammes.
He also attributed the high cost of foodstuffs in the country to the challenge of insecurity, farmer/headers clashes, insurgence and banditry.
Similarly, the President, Etche Farmers’ Cooperative Union, Mr Godwin Akandu, urged government to reinvigorate the economy by ensuring direct funding of farmers and strengthening security.
A Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) mini-tank farm operator, Mr Sunil Umar, attributed the current hike in prices of cooking gas to lack of functional refineries.
Umar said the situation was compounded because of lack of off-takers, to effectively distribute the huge quantity of gas produced by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG).
According to him, the NLNG has always allocated to the Nigerian market as much as 450,000MPTA quantity of gas from 2015 till date.
Also speaking on the high cost of cooking gas, Operations Controller, Department Petroleum Resources (DPR), Uyo, Mr Victor Ohwodiasa, attributed the increase to deregulation of the sector and market forces.
“The gas market is deregulated and is driven by market forces; so the issue of demand and supply comes into play.
‘’Another reason is that there are some tariffs that were imputed by government recently; so that is why the price has jumped up.
‘’If we talk of gas penetration, gas availability and gas reliability, then, something should be done about the price,” he said.
Ohwodiasa, however, said that government was working hard to intervene and stabilise the price of cooking gas.
A housewife in Uyo, Mrs Glory Inyang, said that the high cost of cooking gas had affected the feeding allowance given to her by her husband.
“I used to buy 12.5kg of cooking gas for N3,750, but today I have just bought the same quantity for N10, 000; this is on the high side,” she said.
Another housewife, Mrs Margaret Joseph, lamented that both the cooking gas and food items had become exorbitant at the same time, causing lot a lot of hardship to Nigerians.
Similarly, the Edo Chairman of the Grassroots Farmers Association of Niger Delta, Chief Emmanuel Odigie, identified insecurity, activities of market associations and bad roads as reasons for high cost of foodstuffs.
Odigie claimed that the farmers/herders clashes had made it almost impossible for most farmers to access their farms for fear of being killed or kidnapped.
He also attributed the high cost of food and other commodities to the lack of interest in agriculture on the part the youths.
‘’The youths in our state are not interested in agriculture. All they do is travel abroad for greener pasture wh8those left behind hunt for white-collar jobs.
“The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic is also a major factor and as long as market associations exist, prices of foodstuffs and other agricultural commodities will continue to rise,” he said .
Contributing, Agricultural Extension Officer, Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), Sapele, Dr Samuel Agoda, attributed the hike in prices of food to post harvest losses experienced by farmers.
“For the few farmers that are producing this period of insecurity, storage facilities are a major problem.
“Most of these crops go bad easily after harvest because of lack of storage facilities,” he said.
Agoda, however, noted that the federal government, through NSPRI, had developed series of post-harvest technologies for farmers to store produce in the post-harvest value chain.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.