₦airaland Forum

Mr Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has attributed the country’s rising inflation to worsening insecurity, caused by bandits, terrorists and armed herdsmen.

Emefiele stated this on Tuesday while presenting the communique from the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting which started on Monday.

Emefiele explained that the inflation, which has increased for the 18th consecutive month, was exacerbated by food inflation.

He said that insecurity in many food producing areas of the country was a major contributing factor.

“The MPC noted with concern the continued uptick in inflationary pressure for the 18th consecutive month as headline inflation continued on an upward to 17.33 per cent at the end of February 2021 from 16.47 per cent in January 2021.

“This increase continues to be attributed to both food and other core components of inflation.

“This specific uptick in food inflation was the major driving factor for the uptick in headline inflation.


“This was due to the worsening security situation in many parts of the country, particularly the food producing areas where farmers faced frequent attacks by herdsmen and bandits in their farms,’’ he said.

The apex bank’s governor said that while the bank was making significant intervention in the agricultural sector, the rising insecurity was limiting expected outcomes in terms of supply to the markets.

He added that the situation was a major contributory factor to the rise in food prices.

Emefiele urged the Federal Government to collaborate with relevant stakeholders to urgently address the challenge of insecurity across the country.

He said that the inflationary trend was also worsened by the hike in the pump price of petrol, the upward adjustment of electricity tariff as well as depreciation in the value of the Naira.

He, however, commended CBN’s various interventions to boost food security through its various agriculture programmes

History555:
I don't care if price of fuel is 500 naira a litre as long as buhari media cows and supporters are buying at same price, i am happy.

Each time i drive out of my cabash to my business and sight some of those buhari supporters arguing politcs and loafing about i am happy and pray they remain like that till 2023.

Each time i see nepa cutting the light of buhari supporters because they did not pay bill or see estate security refusing them to pass the gate because they did not pay security level i am happy and pray they suffer more harassment

Each time i see buhari supporters fighting conductor because of 50 naira. I am happy and hope they loose a tooth.

What makes you happy?

In view of the lingering foreign exchange scarcity in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria has urged Nigerians not to panic, saying there is enough forex for business owners, travellers and parents with students abroad to meet their obligations.

CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, stated this on Tuesday at the 278th MPC Press Briefing in Abuja.

He also said at least $80m are disbursed to banks on a weekly basis to enable Nigerians meet their forex responsibilities.

He, therefore, charged Nigerians to report any bank withholding forex to a special call centre of the apex bank.

The PUNCH had reported that the lingering foreign exchange scarcity in Nigeria was taking a heavy toll on foreign tuition payment, as many parents and guardians groan over difficulty in paying their children’s school fees.

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Business owners including airlines have also lamented the scarcity of forex especially in the purchase of their spares.

But speaking on Tuesday, Emefiele said, “Part of the measures that we have adopted is that on a weekly basis, the CBN disburses not less than $80m to the banks either for Personal Travel Allowances or payment of school fees.

“We have created a complaint desk where you can call us or call some of our people who will respond. It is like call centres, where people can call that they went to a particular bank and they didn’t get money to pay school fees or they didn’t get money to travel.”


“There is no need for anybody to panic,” the CBN governor stated, adding that positive indices including exit from recession, diasporan remittances and stable crude oil prices, will buoy forex availability.

He added, “We are very optimistic that there is enough foreign exchange and there will continue to be enough foreign exchange for people to meet their obligations. We just need people to be patient.

“There is no need for everybody to rush to the bank at the same time creating panic and giving speculators an opportunity to reap us off.”