₦airaland Forum

No be communism be dat

This is Buhari not mogunu

Maxymilliano:
Misplaced priority, why not allow the invisible hand of demand and supply to determine food prices while government provide enabling environments to ensure price stability

I beg to defer with your point. There is no invisible hand of demand and supply in Nigeria commodity market. Commodity prices are arbitrarily determined by cartels.

anorexicmuster:
Well, basically he is asking the government to control prices of food.

We have seen how price controls in petroleum (since the late 1980's) and power (since forever) worked. We don't have light, and refining of petrol is now offshore.

On the other hand, the telecoms sector has no price controls, and while not perfect, is in a better place than it was decades ago. (If you know what a phone exchange is, you are very old.).

Capitalisim is exploitative, and evil. Yet, the thing is, bring in socialism a la price controls, and you in essence wipe out the money. The reason why we don't refine petrol in Nigeria is because years of price controls have meant it isn't profitable to do so here in this country...which is why we have things like sabotage and so forth. On the other hand, subsides has made it profitable to smuggle fuel aborad...whiich is why we now subsidse fuel for the whole of West Africa.

This bill should not be allowed to become law. It means food scarcity of the type that was seen in some failed Communist states. You don't want that.


Modified

Price regulation simply put means that foodstuff being sold in the market would be sold at goverment controlled prices which would mean that it would be difficult for the retailer to pay the farmer, transporter of food and wholesaler and importer in some cases for the stuff they buy. In order to earn enough profit the food will end on the black market at higher prices.

Just what I said, they want to cause a man-made food scarcity. Really shallow thinkers! SMH.

This is something they ought to have done a long time ago but corruption and cluelessness no gree them

lalasticlala:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2021/10/reps-bill-seeks-to-compel-fg-to-regulate-food-prices-others/amp/

Repeat of buhari military regime. Socialism is not compatible with modern economy.

yemi1504:
Just what I said, they want to cause a man-made food scarcity. Really shallow thinkers! SMH.

That was what happened during buhari military regime

unbitchable:
Lol. You are here blaming market women, the other day, your president was blaming the middlemen. I don't know why God chose to punish Nigeria with dumb leaders and shallow thinkers.
How would the President regulate food prices?. Does he control food production and supply chain?
Lots of farmers in several IDP Camps in their thousands with no hopes of going back to farm in sight, what is he doing about it?
Borders have been shut for about two years despite food shortages, what is he doing about it?
I thought some paid agents were previously denying the high rates of food.. e go reach everybody.

That's their forte, looking to blame everyone except themselves.

Stupid zombies led by an equally more stupid mannequin

joyandfaith:
That was what happened during buhari military regime

Hmmmm! Always bound to repeat horrible past history SMH.

Blue3k:
Notice the fault never lies in their policies. It can never be that under any scenario. Tomorrow they will tell you about their agricultural revolution in rice and flood you with pictures. I wonder why they dont eat all the cheap food being produced now. If you dont laugh you'll cry.

Bro, Nigeria is the poverty capital of the world, 89% of its population are in abject poverty. No lies and propaganda can erase a fact. Almost all their policies are defective, invalid and contrary to the prevailing realities. There can't be a revolution without changing an existing structures to achieve middle/ long term goals. Nothing has changed still, they keep throwing money at everything hoping things would change.

The proposed law, states in section 33, that “Every person shall have a right to food, which shall be respected, protected and guaranteed by the State, and no one shall be deprived of food under any circumstances”.

The government should tell me how much to charge for what I grow so even lazy fuqs who don't grow food must now eat? What a joke. Would government also tell the fertiliser seller and the transporter and the labourers I use how much they must charge me too?

This is a policy for nonproduction and it will lead to food scarcity!

budaatum:
Electrical Tomatoes

The emboldened is about the only bit of this that got my attention but I notice it caught no one else's.

"Price controls"! It means a product is kept at a price set by government, and in Nigeria, we know it's kept low and very likely beneath the cost at which it can be sold at a profit. Like petrol really. But we can at least claim a reason for petrol with our crude oil and our ineptitude at running refineries. Electric though!?

Imagine it were tomatoes. You invest in land and fertiliser and labour and grow them, and when you get them to the market, government sets the price. I'm absolutely certain if that price is higher than the cost at which you grow your tomatoes, you wouldn't mind much. You'd likely be delighted if it's high enough for you to make a tidy profit. And if you're fortunate and the price set is so high, you'd likely invest in more land and more fertilizer and more labour and grow even more tomatoes. But this is Naija, where the price set by government is more likely to be way below your costs so that after you sell your tomatoes, you would have lost money.

Now think, you lost money on your tomatoes. Are you going to plant tomatoes next season? If you're into the charity business or you're stupid, you just might. But if you're not and have rent and school fees for your kids to pay and you want to eat and pay the interest on a loan I very much doubt you'd be stupid enough to throw your money away growing unprofitable tomatoes!

Well, that's the case with electricity in Nigeria I'm afraid. You generate it, transport it along unreliable transmission wires, lose a large chunk of it to illegal use and theft and what you do get paid for does not cover the cost of producing it. Now tell, would you plant electricity next season? I very much doubt it unless you're into the charity business or you're stupid, of course, but somehow, I just can't imagine you'd be either.

So, what's the solution you might wonder. Increase the price of electricity of course. But come on people, increase the price of electricity so electricity planters can earn more money and plant more and sell more? Surely you must be cursing me by now, or haven't you noticed you'd have to pay more for my electric if you want it?

Ok, perhaps you're all nice civilised folks and don't want to curse me so let's try a different way of looking at this. Imagine Buhari removes the price control so I can sell my electricity at a market determined price like I currently sell my tomatoes no doubt at a profit high enough for me to want to plant more next year. Are you cursing me yet? I'm sure you would be if it was the subsidy on petrol I were talking about removing. Hell no! You'd likely stone me if you could get your hands on me!

Well, that's what this piece is saying where it says "The private sector is given little incentive to invest.” After all, I'm in the electric planting business for the money and the profit and not because I love you all as Adam Smith would say, so why give you light if you aren't paying me for the priviledge! And you wanna complain you're in darkness?!

When you pay me enough to cover my planting of tomatoes after paying for the land and the fertilizer and the labour and the interest on a loan and cover what I lose to theft and illegal harvesting, and still make a tidy profit to reinvest, I will plant 12000megawatts of tomatoes and I will sell 12000megawatts of tomatoes and even more megawatts of tomatoes than you can eat even because you would be incentivizing me to invest what you pay me in more land and more fertiliser and more labour to plant more tomatoes so I will have more tomatoes to sell you and make more money. But if you want cheap electric, keep your price controls and don't incentivize me but don't expect me to waste my time labouring in the sun just so you can have light because, like you, I ain't that stupid nor into the charity business!

Anyone cursing me yet, because I am telling you, we are too cheap!

lalasticlala:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2021/10/reps-bill-seeks-to-compel-fg-to-regulate-food-prices-others/amp/

Food too cheap for Nigeria..Nan Ghana they for need this kind bill..In Ghana everybody they put price for food anyhow.. They will buy eggs at 50 naira in poultry and sell @150 naira to retailers. Ghanaians don't have conscience when it comes to food..