By Francesca Hangeior
It is a tale of woes as an acute scarcity of one of Nigerians’ most popular staple foods, bread, has hit Kaduna, Katsina, and Kano States.
Checks by the News Agency of Nigeria correspondents revealed that the most-favoured staple was now as scarce as petrol or the highly-prized precious metal, Gold.
It was observed that whereas the commodity was very hard to come by, its prices have hit the roof.
Many of the residents could no longer afford the staple and, as such had turned to other not-too-cheap alternatives like noodles, millet porridge, and bean cake, as well as bread and beans, among others.
The prices of the commodity have also been increased by between 20 to 40 per cent.
Many shop owners and consumers have vehemently lamented the obnoxious development, appealing for urgent action to redress the ugly trend.
One of the bakers, who craves anonymity, told journalists in Kaduna, ”It is not that we are on strike, but we have had to stop production since 1st July 2024.
“This unfortunate development was necessitated by the scarcity of wheat flour and its high cost, as well as sugar, oil, and other additives.
“For instance, in June, we were buying a 50kg bag of flour for between N53,000 to N55,000, has regrettably skyrocketed to between N67,000 to N70,000.
“How can we produce bread and also break even under this precarious situation?“
Some bread sellers and consumers in Kaduna State decried the scarcity of bread around the state metropolis, saying that it had affected their businesses and daily lives.
A tea and bread seller, Haidar Basiru, said he usually buys 100 loaves of bread but due to the ongoing paucity, he was able to get only 30 loaves, which had finished already.
”The bakeries are saying they are on strike due to a hike in flour and sugar. This development has seriously affected our businesses as we usually operate in the mornings and evenings.
“But, from the look of things, we may not come out in the evening due to bread shortage. In fact, most of my colleagues operating around this axis in Kasuwan barci have not opened today, “he said.
Similarly, Mrs Kafayat Sadiq, a provisions seller, stated that she couldn’t get bread to stock in her shop since Tuesday, saying that her supplier had complained of the high cost of flour.
A resident, Abdullahi Muhammad, said, “I went to the shop in the morning to buy bread, which would be eaten as breakfast in my house but unfortunately, I couldn’t get it.
”I had to buy spaghetti for the children to eat and go to school since there is no bread; I hope the issue will be alleviated soon.”
A resident of Funtua, Funtua Local Government Area of Katsina State, Aliyu Idris, said that the prices of bread have also gone up in the state.
He said, ”For instance, a loaf of bread that was selling for between N 200 before now goes for N 400. This has affected all the sizes of the bread.”
Idris also stated that tea sellers and shop owners were now finding it very hard to get the commodity for sale to their customers.
In Kano State, a resident also corroborated the scenarios in Kaduna and Katsina States, saying, “A loaf of bread formerly selling for N600 before now goes for N 800.
”Also, a loaf of sliced bread that was selling for n 1200 before is now selling for N 1600,” Haruna Salisu said.
Fuel scarcity: Products distributed by ships to fastrack onshore stock – NMDPRA
Fuel-scarcity
In a bid to address the ongoing fuel scarcity in parts of the country, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has revealed that fuel products are being transported by ships to depots across the nation to expedite distribution.
The Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, disclosed this to journalists after meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday at the State House in Abuja.
Ahmed explained the recent disruptions in fuel supply were due to safety concerns caused by rough seas, which suspended ship-to-ship transfer operations, and flooding in Lagos, which hindered truck loading and movement.
Despite these challenges, Ahmed assured that the country has a 20-day fuel sufficiency, comprising 12 days offshore and eight days onshore.
He emphasied that the authority is working to transfer the offshore stock to onshore depots, which will alleviate the scarcity.
The movement of fuel products by ships to depots in other parts of the country is expected to fast-track the buildup of onshore stock, ensuring a comfortable supply of fuel nationwide.
“Obviously offshore, there were a lot of soil and destabilization and it was very difficult to continue our STS, that is shipping operations in terms of ship-to-ship transfer because of safety. So the ship-to-ship transfer operations were suspended because of the volatile nature of the high sea at the time.
“So those two days of delays, because of safety reasons, created that gap and that gap manifested. On top of that as well, there were floods in Lagos that disrupted truck loading and truck movement because of the floods so the trucks were now more like held back”.
“I did briefed Mr. President just now that we have like 20 days sufficiency; 12 days offshore and about eight days sufficiency of onshore, but what is important is to translate the offshore to onshore and that’s why I must mention it to you earlier that the movement of shipping to other parts of the country will fast track the onshore build up of the stock and once we have the stock in onshore spread across the various depots in the country, then you’ll see a lot of comforts coming in,” Ahmed said.