The country’s Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing a conference on Public Wealth Management held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Nigerian government has said it has uncovered 32 routes through which food items are smuggled out of Nigeria in Sokoto State.
The country’s Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday while addressing a conference on Public Wealth Management held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He added that about 45 trucks loaded with maize were intercepted while making their way to neighbouring countries on Sunday evening.
The Vice President said, “Just three nights ago, 45 trucks of maize were caught being transported to neighbouring countries. Just in that Ilela axis, there are 32 illegal smuggling routes. And the moment those food stuff were intercepted, the price of maize came down by N10,000. It came down from N60,000 to N50,000."
“So, there are forces that are hell-bent on undermining our nation but this is the time for us to coalesce into a singular entity,” he noted.
Shettima, who admitted that Nigeria is going through a difficult period, told the people of the country that the suffering will not endure forever.
He did, however, denounce the situation in which certain people are fanning the flames of divisiveness and violence as a result of the current circumstances.
“We have to make this country work. We have to move beyond politics. We are now in the face of governance. Sadly, some of our countrymen are still in the political mode. They are the practitioners of violence, advocating that Nigeria should go the Lebanon way. But, Nigeria is greater than anyone of us here. Nigeria will weather the storm.
“Forces are hell-bent on plunging this country into a state of anarchy. Those who could not get to power through the ballot box, instead for them to wait till 2027, are so desperate,” he said.