Nigerian strikes and taxation lead to orange scarcity
According to some sellers and dealers in Lafia and Makurdi respectively, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the problem began when indigenous farmers stopped the marketers from buying directly on their farms.
Mrs Sarah Obi, an orange seller, told NAN that the incident came as a surprise to her when she noticed fewer bags of oranges at the market on a market day.
“I was just surprised when I came to the market for oranges, only for me to discover that there were just few bags of oranges.
“On enquiry, I was told that there was a misunderstanding between our distributors and the farmers where they used to buy oranges,“ she said.
Corroborating Obi, Mrs Salamatu Muhammed said the problem later resulted in a strike by the wholesalers of the farm produce, citing the payment of many charges.
“From what we have heard, the few marketers who can access oranges have to pay money at different points before they could bring their goods out from the farms.
“The indigenous farmers had formed a union to make more gains from their farms and that is why they now block outsiders from accessing their farms" she said.
Government officials have promised to look into the issues to resolve the pricing and scarcity problems.
source: guardian.ng
