People in Nigeria are using British Airways to ‘deliver’ them pizzas from London, the nation’s Minister of Agriculture has complained. Audu Ogbeh, 71, said that Nigerians are ‘using their cellphones to order pizza from London’ as he addressed the Senate Committee on Agriculture in Abuja. Describing it as ‘annoying’, he expressed concern over the country’s importation of goods exceeding the exportation.
‘They buy in London, they bring it on British Airways in the morning to pick up at the airport,’ he said. ‘It is a very annoying situation and we have to move a lot faster in cutting down some of these things.’
We spend ₦6.4bn to import toothpicks annually - Nigeria Minister of Agriculture
The Nigerian government is currently trying to curb the importation of goods, which they say is too high and damaging the country. ‘Nigeria is a nation of importers. Toothpick every year costs us 18 million dollars; tomato paste costs us 400 million dollars,’ Mr Ogbeh said. ‘Meanwhile, a basket of tomatoes is less than ₦2,000. The farmers are losing money because the processors do not have enough funds to set up factories.
‘Two factories have started off. I am sure by the end of next year we can comfortably tell the importers of tomato paste to stop.’
Nigerians are known for their high penchant for foreign-made goods in comparison to those produced locally in the country. According to Nairametrics, a total of $411.32 billion worth of goods have been imported into the country, between 2010 and 2017.
In 2017 alone, Nigeria imported $32.67 billion worth of goods from around the globe, down by 7.29% from the total amount of good imported in the previous year, 2016.
Sources: Metro, Nairametrics
Yorumlar