In what has been described as a total absurdity of monumental proportion, a packaged garri duly approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC has hit the Nigerian Markets.
The garri is packed in a 500g bag, which has the picture of a lady and an inscription, ‘TRS’ (Asia’s Finest Foods) on it, with a price tag of N450.
The Executive Director, Natural Nutrient Limited, Sola Adeniyi, expressed dismay at the development in a post entitled, “Attention: Indian garri being sold in Nigerian supermarkets,” which he shared on WhatsApp.
According to Adeniyi, who is an agribusiness development value chain expert, the sale of the Indian-packaged garri in Nigeria is an absurdity of monumental proportion and a shame.
Below Is Adeniyi's Statement In full text:
"This is sincerely an absurdity of monumental proportion and a shame. Our government and regulatory agencies (if they still exist) should cover their faces in shame. I would like to ask: how much were you paid in bribe? Is this how far we are mentally bankrup? we are indeed in a big mess in this nation. Can you imagine imported garri from India now selling in shops in Nigeria and NAFDAC approve this?
"Habaaaaaa Gari again? So we finally have consigned our dear country to a dumping ground for all forms of Asian mindless madness.
"Nigeria is the worlds largest producer of cassava for crying out loud but here we are shamelessly displaying Indian made garri not corn flakes on our shelves. Do we still have the Customs service, do we still have NAFDAC and other such regulatory agencies. This is indeed a shame, that must be condemned by all well meaning, patriotic and passionate Nigerians. We do hope that if need be these government agencies who look the other way when this poorly produced products are hauled into our nation should get set to meet Nigerians on the street in hot protest. We think that it should now be enough of this broad day light rape of our economy and our collective wealth as a nation.
"In the same token, we call out on Nigerian to not just condemned this shameful act but to match such condemnation with a clear statement in action refusing to purchase such foreign made goods that Nigeria has better potential to produce. This call has become important because a great deal of Nigerians have a funny penchant for goods produced outside the shores of Nigeria even if these goods are substandard, and pose obvious threats to our health and well being. It is instructive to note that today the WHO ranks Nigeria so low on some key health indices, that our dear Nation lags behind almost all much smaller African nations.
"Dear countrymen and women, here is a frantic and heartfelt call to redeem what is left of our national pride. Please may we all rise to condemn the importation of garri of all thing. Please let's rebroadcast this on all meddium of mass reach - ELECTRONIC and PRINT, until it arrives the corridors of decision making in this country"
Adeniyi Sola Bunmi
Executive Director
Natural Nutrient Limited
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