List of banned items - FG plunging Nigerians more into peril with their 'un-well' policies

The steps the FG is taking to improve Nigeria's productivity is really a very nice one, the only issue i have with their policies is FG's inept and inability to see that the abrupt way these products are banned causes nothing but inflation.

Let our case study be on rice which was the first foodstuff Nigerian government banned, banning rice was good as the intention was to awoken rice farmers to start producing food for the entire nation so as to curtail the rate of importations into the country which in one way or the other is affecting our currency. (regulation of monetary policy).

A bag of foreign rice was formerly been sold at N9,000, but immediately after the ban, the price of foreign rice began to grow until it is finally pegged at N20,000 in some places and N25,000 in other places, as a result of this, local farmers where faced with lots of pressure to produce more, now based on some manufacturing challenges which include power and all the likes of it, local rice is being sold for N17,000 or N18,000 in some places as against N6,000.

In my opinion, i believe what the FG would have done is to give bailout to these rice farmers, then give a specific time frame their products will be released in the market and same date maintained to cut off importation of rice into the country. This would have gone a long way into regulating the price of this commodity.

It is our dream to see our locally made products thrive and take over the market, at the same time it will take us out of peril if the policies are reviewed and things done the right way.

Check out some of the goods on the list of banned items:

1. Refined vegetable oil

2. Cocoa butter

3. Spaghetti/noodles

4. Fruit juice in retail packs

5. Bagged cement

6. Soaps and detergent

7. Mosquito repellent coils

8. Corrugated paper and paper boards

9. Telephone recharge cards and vouchers

10. Carpets and rugs

11. All types of footwear, bags and suitcases

12. Used motor vehicles above 15 years from year of manufacture.

13. Live or dead birds

14. Water

15. Liquid dietary supplements

16. Pain relief pills like par

17. Chloroquine tablets and syrup

'A word is enough for the wise, these policies are good but let the first things be first'