“I use diesel and I’m already sweating” — Former President Obasanjo Laments The High Cost Of Living In Nigeria

The rise in diesel prices is having an impact on former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his agricultural business.

This comes as Obasanjo lamented the high cost of diesel, feeds, and the exchange rate crisis, which are affecting Nigerian fish production. Obasanjo expressed concern about the high cost of diesel, claiming that it has hampered his fish production.

Speaking at the Southwest Fish Farmers’ Congress on Tuesday at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Balogun Owu expressed concern that rising diesel prices, as well as constant increases in fish feed prices, would drive fish farmers out of business.

“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.

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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.” Facing the farmers, he asked, “How many of you are using diesel in your production? I use diesel and I’m already sweating. I’m already sweating.”

Obasanjo stated that the only way to avoid this is for them to work together to agree on sustainable prices that can be implemented to keep them in business. With the current price of diesel at N800 per litre, he maintains that the production of a kilogram of fish is N1,400; he claims that farmers cannot sell such fish for less than N1,500 because anything less amounts to “outright loss.”