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Doyin Okupe, the former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign, has heaped praises on the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, for "bringing down the escalating prices of foodstuffs in his domain.”
According to Okupe, the monarch went out of his way to negotiate with market leaders in Ife.
He said after much deliberations and negotiations, the market leaders agreed to bring down the prices of common foodstuffs in their markets.
Commending the monarch’s initiative, the ex-presidential spokesperson, described the move as ‘exponentially ingenious’, adding that the effort curtailed excessive profiteering by greedy traders.
He tweeted, “The Oonirisa , Oba Enitan Adeyemi Ogunwusi, Ojaja II, has done something exponentially ingenious and commendable. He boldly and responsively intervened in bringing down the seemingly uncontrolled escalating prices of foodstuffs in his domain.
“He went out of his way to summon market leaders to meetings in his palace where after much deliberations and negotiations, traders agreed to bring down the prices of common foodstuffs in their markets.
“This way the excessive profiteering by greedy traders who wantingly exploited the masses was curtailed. In a chat with the Ooni this morning, he informed me that he is making serious efforts that this highly commendable initiative is replicated all over the southwest.”
The cause of food inflation
Nigerians have been struggling with economic problems since President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy in May 2023.
The situation is worsened by insecurity in many parts of the country, leading to food insecurity and inflation.
The latest data by the Nigeria National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed food inflation in Nigeria skyrocketed to 40.66% on a year-on-year basis.