Just30:
how far with the increase in food prices in your country ?


your are wasting your time
Ghana is ever progressing

next year poverty figures will increase by 25% in your country

Progressing kee you there! We just close border you guys are crying foul una never see anything

Fuckeduppedness send that message to your nigerian brother and sisters. They need it more than me. Fuckeduppedness

maynation:



If you can pass your message across without sounding insulting then I will reply you.

Grow up.

AlphaStyles:
then why didn't he close Canada-US border since it's about security? When u close borders make sure u have a proper plan that will help your country and there are availability of power to sustain but if u do that without all this available then u will get hurt

Those countries that u import from will complain for a while but later move to other countries living u to suffer alone

Maybe this is another point you are running away from.


Let's Nigeria have something to export too.
Maybe it's sachet water and paraga you want to export.

AlphaStyles:
talking about old China they too imported the old days from other countries if China is so strong why don't they lock all borders don't import again since it can sustain itself

U keep missing the picture Nigeria is different from China

China in terms of advancement is different if u think u will follow China and b successful then u are in for a big shock

You are the one trying to compare two unrelated pictures(Current China and current Nigeria)
Where as it should be (China before border closed and Nigeria as she embarks on border closure) .

Stop talking about this current China please, from 1950-1970 China's border was totally closed down. I doubt you know this.

ajl:


What negative impacts? Because you cannot produce your own food or your life is dependent on things that you as a people can create but have refused to do so. Or you are involved in one form of smuggling and a business around it. The ports are still working.

Imagine, ordinary Ghana export sub-standard mango juice and other products into Nigeria which their own minister admit in an online tv program that such products cannot be accepted in China or any Asian country not to talk of the Europe.

.. bro,no country is self sufficient. You re only thinking about what you import from other African countries,what of the ones we export? Or do you think that those people in textile industries are not feeling the impact since they can't export their goods? What ever has advantage,has its disadvantage.

maynation:



I beg to disagree. Nigerians have been wailing since time immemorial, it has nothing to do with the border closure. We have witnessed worse level of inflation in the past and here we are still doing fine. So don't judge with what some random folks say because there is never a time complaints ever stopped. Even why we Nigerians are adorning Trump with appraisals and commendations, some Americans are wishing he dies and disappears. So you can never satisfy everyone, but Oga do you know the number of ghanians' officials that have lamented and cried blue murder over this border closure?
Even their president isn't excluded, this shows how much negative effect it has inflicted on their economy.
Believe it or not, Nigeria will benefit a whole lot for closing her border.

You seem to be genuine about your expectations based on your comments, however, you still have a very long way to go before you reach maturity as your enthusiasm is more from the heart and not from the mind.

Someone wrote this beautiful piece below that might assist you if only you are as genuine as you sound here.

It is a comprehensive analysis of the situation that torches plethora of areas you probably have not considered or don't even know are important.


WE DON'T HAVE A RICE PROBLEM
~Tosin Adeoti

Please follow me carefully...

Imagine you are the head of a household of two children: Stephen and Stanley. Steve (28) is a promising young Architect who works at Ikoyi earning N100,000/month. Stan (17) is a non-bookish SSCE graduate who is still seeking admission into the University. They both live at home; your house. You have a car and the best car washer in the house is Steve. Stan is a lousy car washer and no matter how well you teach him, he just never measures up to Steve.

On a certain Monday morning, you have a morning meeting with some important people, and seeing that the car is very dirty with no car wash in sight, you have to choose between the two sons to wash the car: Steve, an excellent car washer but he needs to leave home as early as 5:00am, or Stan, an incompetent car washer but he has all the time in the world. Whom do you choose?

If you are like most people, you will choose Stan. Why? Because Steve is worth more to you (and himself and the family) going to work than he is as a great car washer.

If you understand this then congratulations for you now understand one of the key principles in economics -- Comparative Advantage. This concept refers to the ability (of an individual, group, organization, country) to produce goods and services at a lower opportunity cost than others.

Stan has comparative advantage in the washing of the car at that period over Steve. Lionel Messi may have other talents, but his comparative advantage is in football. The understanding of Comparative Advantage informs Singapore importing more than 90% of its food so it can devote and achieve its goal of being the world's leader in three things: financial services, manufacturing and oil refining (despite having no crude oil). Comparative Advantage is tremendously useful on a personal and career level as well.

Enough of the story...

-------

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH RICE?

You see...there is a lot of noise about Nigerians eating too much of foreign rice. One of the most baffling things about this rice issue is the amount of misinformation around it. Just this week, Customs announced that it had seized containers of rice and attributed it to gains on the War on Rice. Barely 24 hours later, the company whose containers were seized provided strong evidence of false declaration by Customs. This same week, there were reports that Vietnam sent a delegation to beg Nigeria to open the borders to rice. But several other news publications have revealed that the Deputy PM’s visit was to explore how Vietnam can help Nigeria with high-tech agriculture and how its experts can explore projects in agriculture. The Deputy, one of several PMs Vietnam has, is on an African tour and Nigeria is just one of the countries on his itinerary. Itineraries are planned ahead of time and it was merely a coincidence that his visit came at a point noise about the border closure is at its peak. There have been many other false claims/half-truths about India, Thailand, Ghana, etc.

The several misinformation are not only deliberately planted, killing people because of rice is now seen as a worthy sacrifice. You don't believe me? A few examples...

- Oct, 2019: A 22-year old was shot dead by a Customs officer for being a smuggler's 'informant' in Jigawa.
- Oct, 2019: Suspected smuggler was killed by Customs officer in Ogun state.
- Jan, 2019: Customs officer opened fire on a bus loaded with rice, killing an unarmed civilian in Lagos.
- Jan, 2019: Customs officer shot a pregnant woman (going to work) in Ogun in pursuit of rice smugglers.
- Nov, 2018: Customs officer opened fire in a filling station killing several people and injuring many others while raiding an illegal rice depot in Lagos.

I can give you links to dozens upon dozens of people across the country who have been killed via extra-judicial means in this 'War Against Rice'. Every week, there is a report about deaths of Nigerians in the hands of Customs because of rice, a lot of them bystanders.

There is no record that any Custom officer fingered in a murder case over rice is facing judgement. That’s scary. It means that any trigger-happy Customs officer can declare open fire on anyone based on what he thinks, and pin it on rice smuggling. You should be concerned. No one is safe under these circumstances.

-------

WASTE OF PUBLIC FUNDS...

We have not only lost fellow citizens to this fight, we have lost and are losing precious funds on this silly obsession on rice.

Last month (September 2019), the CBN governor announced that the administration has provided a total of N146 billion as loans to rice farmers under its anchor borrower program. In January 2019, CBN approved compensation for rice farmers over flood valued at N27.5 billion. If we assume these are the only funds spent on rice, we have a total of N173 billion spent on rice alone. But let’s stick with N146 billion going forward in this discussion.

One of the wisest men I know taught me to always ask the question, ‘compared to what?’. I have found it one of the most salient points in my adult life. So let's use it: If Nigeria has spent N146 billion on rice alone, how does it compare to other expenses in our national life?

In 2018, the federal government projected to spend N61 billion on education and N71 billion on health on Nigerians. As you can see, the funds spent on rice is more than the projected expenditure on health and education combined (146 vs 132).

Even worse, the 2018 budget performance is 55%. This means that even though the government said they would be able to earn N7.2 trillion, they were able to generate only N3.96 trillion. You can see that in reality, we have spent less than N132 billion on health and education, YET we have spent N146 billion on rice. Isn’t this ridiculous? Is rice more important than the education and health of Nigerians?

-------

BUT WE HAVE RICE?

But the end justifies the means, right? If we have spent so much on rice and Nigerians are blessed with abundant rice, it may be worth it. Now, let’s ask the next logical question: How have these funds impacted Nigerians?

The answer is, continuous price hike. 50kg of foreign rice previously sold for N13,000 is now been sold for up to N27,000 (107% hike), while the local variant, according to a report released yesterday by BBC, has risen 100%.

Nigerians are not just been killed, they are not just putting their funds into the pockets of a few farmers, they also have to live with higher and higher food prices. It’s unfair! This is one key reason Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world. We spend too much of our disposable income on food - arguably the highest in the world.

But why do we have to spend so much funds on rice production anyway? Because our soil is very bad for growing rice.

China has a yield of 6.5 metric tons per hectare of rice.
Brazil has 6.1 metric tons per hectare.
Vietnam has 5.41.
South Korea has 5.3.

Can you guess Nigeria's yield per hectare? 1.8, according to a report released by KPMG Advisory Services. A 2017 report by OECD puts it at 1.1. Nigeria is not in the top 70 countries in terms of yield per hectare of rice, according to IndexMundi, a global data portal.

Our rice yield is too low. You can imagine then that I was not surprised when I read in May 2019 that 3383 rice farmers have defaulted on a loan of N364m in Taraba. Not a single kobo has been repaid. This month, October 2019, another 113 farmers have been reported to have defaulted payment in Katsina State. They may have defaulted for many reasons, but can we really say that it is helping that our lands have poor rice yields? These farmers, according to reports, preferred to marry new wives and go on pilgrimages than waste their time on a ‘failed’ crop.

BACK TO COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE…

In other words, for all of the funds we have poured into the crop since our return to civil rule in 1999, we don't have much to show for it. It's obvious we have no comparative advantage in rice production. In truth, we have a long way to satisfy local consumption. In 2018, we produced 3.7 million metric tons of rice, while our consumption was 6.9m. The shortage of 3 million metric tons of rice was imported into Nigeria from places like Vietnam, India and USA. According to this report by KPMG, imported rice is not a barrier to local production. If anything, it complements local supply to satisfy the huge demand. Little wonder that with the ban on foreign rice, demand has outstripped supply and the resultant effect is increased prices.

A fundamental law of economics is that with increased prices, the incentives to sell increases, hence why smugglers will take all kinds of risks to bring in foreign rice. If a bag across the border is N5000 and they can bring it into Nigeria and sell for N24,000, they may well think it's worth the risk, don't you think? We have created the incentives and wonder why smugglers endanger their lives and that of others. It's self-evident. We have turned rice into cocaine.

What should we have concentrated on instead, and what should we concentrate on going forward?

What I find interesting is that despite our fixation on rice, we have crops we have comparative advantage in. Sesame seeds for example. For the past few years, sesame seeds have been our biggest agricultural export. After India and China, Nigeria is the largest producer of sesame seeds in the world. Some of you don’t even know what the crop looks like. That’s quite ironic.

I will list a few crops we can compete in...

- We are the sixth largest producer of Cashew nuts in the world.
- We are the largest producer of Cassava in the world.
- We are the 4th largest producers of Edible Aroids in the world.
- We are not just the largest producer of Yams in the world, 70% of all Yams in the world are grown in Nigeria.
- We are the 3rd largest producer of Millets in the world.
- We are the 3rd largest producer of Sorghum in the world.
- We are the largest producer of Shea Butter in the world.

I can list more, but you get my point.

And this is without even trying. We have not spent funds to increase yields via serious R&, investment in equipment, etc. We could easily be the largest producers in some of these crops if we so desire.

The hullabaloo over rice is seriously misguided. Lives are being lost on a weekly basis, scarce revenue are being pumped over a crop we would do well to continue to import, and the high cost of this stable food is driving more and more Nigerians into poverty. And it saddens me as our intellectuals continue to fall for and propagate the misinformation about rice.

We don't have a rice problem; we have a problem of knowing what our priorities should be.

mu2sa2:
I have always said they're Christians and they're just church goers: the latter know next to nothing about the teachings of christianity. Bros, you belong in the former group, but you guys constitute the minority in the midst of hypocrites.

You, as a self acclaimed better Christian, have not made any point to support your position.

Tell me with Bible verses why you felt my comment was wrong.

AlphaStyles:
talking about old China they too imported the old days from other countries if China is so strong why don't they lock all borders don't import again since it can sustain itself

U keep missing the picture Nigeria is different from China

China in terms of advancement is different if u think u will follow China and b successful then u are in for a big shock

Technically China still doesn't allow a lot things into their country. From technology to religion and commercial products. They dictate the terms. And they do not have the mindset of playing "big-brother" to any lame-duck back stabbing countries. Their interests comes first.

I pity you nigerians. All you is talk nonsense. This is 2019 for God’s sake. Most Nigerians reason like people in the 1960s and 1970s. How can anyone imagine that simply because Ghana sent officials to Abuja over the border closure meant Ghana’s economy was in trouble . some even said Nigeria was the one feeding Ghana it’s amazing the way most Nigerians reason and they claim they are smart people

tayebest:



Progressing kee you there! We just close border you guys are crying foul una never see anything

ajl:


But the challenge here is the mindset of most Nigerians compared to average Chinese people. Nigerians do not know anything about sacrificing and it is always about immediate gratification. China strategies were implemented from cover to cover until they became a manufacturing hub. The key.was that those at the helm of affairs had a clear idea of what they wanted and how to go about it, and the populace were in line. Though they made few mistakes (environment pollution etc) but these can be redressed. Tell me, can our political elite sacrifice as well. Nigeria has too many citizen saboteurs with enough foreign counterparts. First implement capital punishment for corrupt acts, life-sentence for economic crimes like smuggling, then diverts huge funds into infrastructure, especially transportation, reorganize the customs service (heavily) and close land borders across the country for 2-years, all simultaneously. And Nigerians should remember to copy and imitate/produce as many western technologies as possible until they can recreate these as theirs. If these can be done to the letter, I bet what would emerge will be a totally different country. Nigeria is yet to take advantage of the size of its population.

Thanks for this piece, in one of my comments I said 'Nigerian government is closing her border for the wrong reasons'.

I know our leaders are not even ready for this, I think this border closure of a thing is more of seeking respect and superiority over other african nations than trying to use it as a means of promoting local products and self sufficiency.

If our leaders could get their notions right then Nigeria will be great again.

I was not even expecting the dullard to think of opening this border this soon.

maynation:



Maybe this is another point you are running away from.


Let's Nigeria have something to export too.
Maybe it's sachet water and paraga you want to import.






You are the one trying to compare two unrelated pictures(Current China and current Nigeria)
Where as it should be (China before border closed and Nigeria as she embarks on border closure) .

Stop talking about this current China please, from 1950-1970 China's border was totally closed down. I doubt you know this.

and taking about China both old and new compare both NIGERIA old and new to China old and new

China is more advanced than us during those old days and now

If u want to use China style to solve African problems shock go catch u

maynation:


Thanks for this piece, in one of my comments I said 'Nigerian government is closing her border for the wrong reasons'.

I know our leaders are not even ready for this, I think this border closure of a thing is more of seeking respect and superiority over other african nations than trying to use it as a means of promoting local products and self sufficiency.

If our leaders could get their notions right then Nigeria will be great again.

I was not even expecting the dullard to think of opening this border this soon.

.. Thanks for this comment. I keep asking those in support of the border closure,what's the aims and objectives behind it? But they keep going in circles.Apart from ithe importation,we still have people that export goods to these neighbouring countries.

ajl:


Technically China still doesn't allow a lot things into their country. From technology to religion and commercial products. They dictate the terms. And they do not have the mindset of playing "big-brother" to any lame-duck back stabbing countries. Their interests comes first.

they don't because they have the man power and electricity with availability of tools to do theirs but in Nigeria we don't China is not NIGERIA and NIGERIA is not China China still preaches about free trade and goes to other countries to to sigh deals on free trade the same China that dictates are they not the ones bashing Trump on protectism?

AlphaStyles:
and taking about China both old and new compare both NIGERIA old and new to China old and new

China is more advanced than us during those old days and now

If u want to use China style to solve African problems shock go catch u

There you missed it, China's first border closure was back in the 15th century.
You mean the then China was better than this current Nigeria?

MUMUdom:
I pity you nigerians. All you is talk nonsense. This is 2019 for God’s sake. Most Nigerians reason like people in the 1960s and 1970s. How can anyone imagine that simply because Ghana sent officials to Abuja over the border closure meant Ghana’s economy was in trouble . some even said Nigeria was the one feeding Ghana it’s amazing the way most Nigerians reason and they claim they are smart people

Mr, you are likely not Nigerian. I watched an online program with a Ghanaian minister. Going by all he said if Nigeria decides to close its border for a longer period, the economy of many Ecowas members will collapse. Do you folks think in terms of numbers. A 200 million market surrounded by countries with population of 8 to 30 million. The minister said certain Ghanaian products are only good for Nigerian markets because our standards lower than say Asian countries or Europe. This is not about chest beating or anything of sort. The entire Ecowas market is sustained by "standardless" Nigerian economic system. Demanding high standard products will have a huge impacts in terms of cost to these Ecowas countries, not to talk of totally closing land borders. Other Ecowas countries are lucky that Nigeria have always been "blessed" with dumb leaders.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8QUAtJSQsI

JONNYSPUTE:
.. Thanks for this comment. I keep asking those in support of the border closure,what's the aims and objectives behind it? But they keep going in circles.Apart from ithe importation,we still have people that export goods to these neighbouring countries.

The 'aim' is what Nigerians don't even know and the Government too.

I wish it could be for he right reasons, it will make much better sense.

AlphaStyles:
they don't because they have the man power and electricity with availability of tools to do theirs but in Nigeria we don't China is not NIGERIA and NIGERIA is not China China still preaches about free trade and goes to other countries to to sigh deals on free trade the same China that dictates are they not the ones bashing Trump on protectism?

You are just laying emphasis on the same point.

Dear, stop fantasizing about this 21st century China's economical reformations.

Go back to history, now China has all it takes to preach whatever she wants.

Do you know there was a time China didn't allow a single foreigner into her nation let alone products? How comes you are not talking about this?

maynation:



There you missed it, China's first border closure was back in the 15th century.
You mean the then China was better than this current Nigeria?

are u seriously comparing old age China to that of Nigeria? China that was busy developing while we were still running from bush to bush if NIGERIA is better why haven't we improved we are still stuck at were we are when China closes they re open they have better plan in place Nigerian government doesn't have

China plan in advance not temporary don't worry u like border closure abi I pray this thing remains closed so that u will know the pains of border closure when u go to the market and can't afford what u used to afford then u will rethink

maynation:



Maybe this is another point you are running away from.


Let's Nigeria have something to export too.
Maybe it's sachet water and paraga you want to import.






You are the one trying to compare two unrelated pictures(Current China and current Nigeria)
Where as it should be (China before border closed and Nigeria as she embarks on border closure) .

Stop talking about this current China please, from 1950-1970 China's border was totally closed down. I doubt you know this.

This is an extremely misguided opinion. China's policies in the period you mentioned was a total disaster. It led to extreme famine resulting in millions of deaths.

China's economic growth started when those archaic policies were reversed and massive foreign capitals began to pour in beginning from the late 1970s. China took advantage of western companies' aversion to higher labour/wage costs to lure capital to their country. Closing of borders in the period you mentioned was a complete economic disaster of the Chinese communist leadership.

Many Nigerians peddle half knowledge everywhere especially on economic success of other countries. This should stop.

angelEmade:
lol at last!
itx ftc girl again!
all nairaland men should check my signature ooo else i will come han beat you inyour room
....please i am not jobless
ftc girl is a music promoter. i can get you ten thousand downloads for only 7k

How anglic are you? Are u really a girl? Or s man using a ladies handle to seek followers....

maynation:



You are just laying emphasis on the same point.

Dear, stop fantasizing about this 21st century China's economical reformations.

Go back to history, now China has all it takes to preach whatever she wants.

Do you know there was a time China didn't allow a single foreigner into her nation let alone products? How comes you are not talking about this?

this is the 21st century China has thrown away those old days style and adapt to 21st century u want to use China old ways of solving 21st century problem no worry shock go catch u i no fit talk again I pray it remains close sooner or later u will start to feel the reality of it

I disagree entirely. The numbers don’t support your argument. First, what how does Ghana export to Nigeria, and Vice versa. Forget about what officials say. Shine your eyes. God has given you brain to think fir yourself. Ghana does not export more than $100 million worth of goods to Nigeria annually. Nigeria exports probably goods worth about$150 million to Ghana annually. Is that what will collapse the Ghanaian or Nigerian economy? Hell no

Secondly, Ghana’s main exports are cocoa, gold, oil and gas etc. None of these items go to Nigeria. So tell me, how can anyone tell me that trade with Nigeria is what sustains the Ghanaian economy? This is simply ridiculous! Ghana attracted more foreign direct investment in west Africa than any other west African country, including Nigeria. The problem with you Nigerians is that you like to make yourself more important than you are. That is the truth. Nigerians think the sun shines from their anus, yet your country is in a terrible mess. Fuckeduppedness

ajl:


Mr, you are likely not Nigerian. I watched an online program with a Ghanaian minister. Going by all he said if Nigeria decides to close its border for a longer period, the economy of many Ecowas members will collapse. Do you folks think in terms of numbers. A 200 million market surrounded by countries with population of 8 to 30 million. This is not about chest beating or anything of sort. The entire Ecowas market is sustained by Nigeria. Other Ecowas countries are lucky that Nigeria have always been "blessed" with dumb leaders.

porka:


This is an extremely misguided opinion. China's policies in the period you mentioned was a total disaster. It led to extreme famine resulting in millions of deaths.

China's economic growth started when those archaic policies were reversed and massive foreign capitals began to pour in beginning from the late 1970s. China took advantage of western companies' aversion to higher labour/wage costs to lure capital to their country. Closing of borders in the period you mentioned was a complete economic disaster of the Chinese communist leadership.

Many Nigerians peddle half knowledge everywhere especially on economic success of other countries. This should stop.

according to her it worked for China it will also work for us

I just dy look Dy laugh

What's the essence of the closure if we still can't address smuggling and insecurity threats these borders have festered?!

GOOOGLE504:


how come you don't still see it
1) Political Strategy
2) Ploy to make all xtians chop EBA for Xmas

whatever the reason sha, it was never for the benefit of d masses.

Time to go test your IQ.

/
Great nations didn't become great by playing nice.

The threat of border closure will be a good bargaining tool in future.

Nigeria just wielded her power to keep everyone in check especially against Ghana that had been living in fantasy of regional economic powerhouse.
/

ajl:


Technically China still doesn't allow a lot things into their country. From technology to religion and commercial products. They dictate the terms. And they do not have the mindset of playing "big-brother" to any lame-duck back stabbing countries. Their interests comes first.

You mean TECHNOLOGY is not allowed into China?

Where do you people hear all these bizarre things from?

Or do you mean western technology companies?

witnezHD:
I hope ghana have learn their lesson

Hope Nigerian Christians have learnt their lesson too?

Pearlyakin:
Jesuuu, I'm beginning to imagine tinz Let me just suck the nipples like a new born baby

...uhmmm you no fit bro...four rounds and u go tire