What The Border Closure Means For Food Prices
Earlier this week, the unimaginable happened, Chicken Republic, a food chain named after chicken did not have chicken. The entire Nigerian Twitterverse gasped in horror and then turned it into banter, per usual, pointing fingers at Nigerian anyhowness.
Sadly, Chicken Republic’s competence had nothing to do with this, rather, they couldn’t get their supply of chicken due to the closure of the Nigerian-Benin border.
In case you didn’t get the memo, the Nigerian government sealed the Benin border in its aim to tackle smuggling and illegal trade. The implication of this is that businesses like Chicken Republic and others who get their supplies from Benin are currently struggling.
This development came shortly after the announcement of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, (AfCTA), a deal that was supposed to boost trading between countries within the African Union.
However, this border closure means that staple food products like rice, chicken and turkey which were previously imported across from Benin have become scarce, and the countries who made bank from this market have lost a lot of money.
Expectedly, these affected countries are choosing to be petty, and let me just say, the sleigh bells might not jingle this Christmas if the border remains closed.
Granted, one might argue that this closure could boost sales of local-bred chickens, but the numbers are honestly not adding up, given the current situation of agriculture in the country today.
Basically, our farmers are not exactly equipped to supply tonnes of kilos of frozen chicken daily and if they did, the transportation system is another barrier preventing this ‘dream’ from coming to fruition.
The government claims that its air and sea borders remain open, however, with the road to Apapa being a festering ground for freak accidents, and the expensive custom duty charges at the airports, those options are as ineffective as the “g” in ‘lasagna’.
Let’s not forget the travesty that is the local rice currently being peddled as the saviour of Nigerian agriculture. I may not be cultured, but my soul and body refuse to ingest that abomination.
It is an unrealistic alternative and I wish people who thought this was a good idea understood the fact that rice is a staple, versatile meal and not a luxury.
Additionally, inflation rates are projected to hit sky levels this month - and this means the cheaper meal options we love so dearly from chicken-based franchises like Chicken Republic and KFC are probably going to become more expensive. Moreover, this has caused a ripple effect for the prices of other food items, as such, people will have to spend more money on basic food items, in this economy.
Nevertheless, some people claim Nigeria will rise from this chaos and become the China of food and agriculture, and rule the world and to that, I say…
I mean, I secretly hoped that the government would ban chicken because it is a trash bird, but not like this, fam. For folk like me who have banked on Christmas rice from my neighbours, that might probably not happen.
Moreover, I guess we all have to start eating more goat meat, I heard it’s healthy. I mean, will Chicken Republic even be called that name if they don’t gain access to frozen chicken any time soon? What a way to end 2019!
What’s your take on this border closure? Are you about to start rearing chickens? Or will you be trying other alternatives? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section.