Ex-Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said he has been sweating over the high cost of diesel, noting that it is taking a toll on his business.
He noted that the rise in the cost of diesel as well as the constant increase in prices of fish feeds will eventually run Nigerian fish farmers out of business.
Obasanjo, who is a fish farmer, urged farmers to come together to agree on sustainable prices that could be adopted to keep them in business.
Under President Muhammadu Buhari, inflation has been rising at an alarming rate.
Obasanjo, in his statement in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during the Southwest fish farmers’ congress held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), knocked the leadership in the country, saying it is not what it used to be.
According to the former President, with the current price of diesel at 800 per litre, production of a kilogramme of fish is N1,400, adding that, in order to make a very marginal profit, the farmers can’t sell less than N1,500 as anything short of that will amount to “outright loss.”
“The price of diesel has gone high because the management of this country is not what it used to 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.
“How many of you are using diesel in your production? Because I use diesel and I’m already sweating. I’m already sweating,” Obasanjo said.
