According to Lai Mohammed, Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, rising food prices will be reduced as more food is produced.

He made the remarks on Thursday in Abuja, at the 9th edition of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Scorecard Series (2015 to 2023).

He stated that as part of Buhari’s administration’s scorecard, the area of self-sufficiency in most basic needs had been largely overlooked.

Mohammed stated that, while the country was not yet fully developed, the administration had performed admirably since taking office.

He stated that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the economic uncertainty that disrupted global supply chains, Buhari admonished Nigerians to grow what they eat and eat what they grow.

According to the minister, many people do not understand or appreciate the significance of that admonition.

He stated that the admonition, which caused Nigerians to look inwards and rely less on imports, saved Nigerians from starvation, particularly during the prolonged global lockdown, when exporting nations closed their ports and borders and nations that relied on imports struggled to meet their needs.

“Imagine that Nigeria, during that period, had relied on imports to feed itself. In 2020, when the pandemic started, we were just five years into the Buhari administration’s food security programme.

“But we had enough food to eat and enough fertiliser to farm, thanks also to the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative. Even before the pandemic, our borders were closed and food imports were largely banned.”