When he bemoaned the high cost of diesel, foodstuffs, as well as the exchange rate in the country on Tuesday, former president Olusegun Obasanjo appeared to be experiencing what many Nigerians are.
I May Soon Go Bankrupt! Obasanjo Laments Over High Cost Of Diesel and Forex
The former president claimed that the high cost of diesel has been having an adverse effect on his ability to produce fish.
He lamented during the South-West Fish Farmers’ Congress held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State (OOPL).
The former president warned that unless Nigerian fish farmers worked together to agree on sustainable rates that could be adopted to keep them in business, the rising cost of diesel and the ongoing increase in the price of fish feeds may finally drive them out of business.
He claimed that producers could no longer depend on customers who would buy their products for whatever price they saw appropriate without considering the impact of the current economic climate on the production of such fish.
According to him, a kilogram of fish costs N1,400 to produce at the current price of N800 per liter of diesel. He added that in order for farmers to make a very marginal profit, they can’t sell fish for less than N1,500 since anything less would be an “outright loss.”
Obasanjo said: “The price of diesel has gone high because the management of this country is not what it should be. And it is as simple as that.
“Then, what will happen is that particularly those of us who have to use a bit of diesel in producing fish, we will completely go bankrupt, and when that happens, Nigerians will still have to eat fish.
“Fish production will be out of reach and then, people will be producing fish outside Nigeria and be dumping it here. And you will go jobless, poor, and indigent. So, what do we have to do?
“To come together…we want to sustain fish production and we must be able to take care of those who are going to eat and those of us who are producing.”
Turning to the farmers, he asked: “How many of you are using diesel in your production? Because I use diesel and I’m already sweating. I’m already sweating.”
nevertheless, Amo Tunbosun Amo, president of the South-West Fish Farmers Price Sustainability Group, revealed that the nation now imports 2.6 million metric tonnes of fish each year to make up the difference between the 1.12 million tonnes it produces and the 3.6 million metric tonnes it consumes annually.
He said: “This is the essence of this gathering, we find out that we have to take our destiny in our hands, we can’t continue to produce and be at the mercy of the buyers, we felt we need to come around and do something for ourselves. We are starting with Southwest and in a matter of time it will be all over the country.”
The convener of the congress, Steve Okeleji said the fish farmers decided to come together to rescue the industry.
Okeleji said: “We have to come together to see how we can rescue our industry. It’s now very obvious to us that if we don’t do something fast, the aquaculture industry in Nigeria will be submerged.
“If everything were to be right with our economy, this congress wouldn’t have been necessary.
“So, the farmers must be heard. We are also a virtually key player in the industry. In fact, we play an important role across the value chain of the industry. But the major challenge we have over time is that we are not able to speak with one voice.”
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