It did not come as a surprise last week when media reports quoted some prominent Nigerian economists as saying that it would take some time for the people of the country to feel the impact of the current strengthening of the naira against the dollar on the prices of commodities.
They generally agreed that foods that have been bought at the old exchange rate will still be tied to the old exchange rate.
They submitted: “Whether a month or a quarter, it depends on the duration it takes to order and sell. The effect we should hope to see is that the prices have stopped going up. We call it acceleration.”
In one of the reports, the President of Nigerian Economic Society, Adeola Adenikinju, highlighted the economic rationale behind the delay in price adjustments saying “What people have in stock now was purchased at high prices. If they sell at lower prices, they are going to record losses. So until they replace the current one, that is when they will reduce their prices.
“But currently, to avoid losses, they will still sell at the rate at which they bought it. We will only start seeing the current prices of things as current stock is sold and new stock is acquired.”
However, the issue or issues involved in stemming the steadily rising food prices in the country has more to do with the unfortunate and unpatriotic orientation of the typical Nigerian.
Despite the current efforts of the President Bola Tinubu-led government to introduce measures that will restructure the economy, saboteurs are always ready to throw spanners into the works.
In addition, the bandwagon effect of the activities of saboteurs and enemies of the country has kept prices on the high side.
The situation in the country is so interesting to the extent that everyone latches on to the weakness of the naira against the United States of America’s dollars to milk fellow countrymen and women.
A measure of garri and other basic foodstuffs are now beyond the reach of the average Nigerian all because the farmers are also conscious of the fact that the naira is being ‘flogged mercilessly’ by the US dollar.
Now that the naira is recovering gradually, who will bring down the prices of food items and others?
There is dire need to re-orientate the people of the country so that the age-long belief that ‘what goes up in Nigeria never comes down’ will be totally uprooted.
Resuscitation of the country’s economy cannot be achieved only by the Federal Government. The states, local councils and indeed, all Nigerians must resolve to work together.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
