Nigeria is plagued by a slew of serious issues. Although the country has the largest economy on the African continent, the factors that define the general problems frequently go beyond economic; they also have ethnic, cultural, and political dimensions.
Nigeria is also a country where practitioners of almost every profession, trade, or vocation have a union. While these unions work to protect the interests of their members, they can sometimes be a clog in the wheel of development.
The Intense Situation
In June 2021, the Association of Onion Producers, Processors, and Marketers of Nigeria (OPMAN) threatened to stop the supply of onions to the country's southern region if certain conditions were not met.
This situation can be connected mainly to the ethnopolitical crisis affecting different regions in Nigeria. Remarkably, the association claimed that “hoodlums” destroyed onions worth 4.5 billion Naira ($10.9 million) across the southern states in the prior months. In February, the "hoodlums" vandalized onion trucks in the southeastern state of Imo and the southwestern state of Oyo, forcing the parent organization of OPMAN to temporarily halt food supply from northern Nigeria to the country's southern parts from February 25 to March 3.
Aliyu Umar, the association’s president, explained that a government committee had promised to compensate their members, many of whom suffered considerable losses in Imo, Abia, and the Oyo State during the EndSARS protests and other crises that rocked the country around the end of last year to this year.
Reactions from the Government and the Market
This move drew much criticism from leaders throughout Nigeria, who urged people and traders to live and do business together peaceably. However, the leadership of the Northern Cattle and Foodstuff dealers agreed to end the blockage of food supply to the southern parts of the country after extensive dialogue with government authorities.
During the strike, food prices, including beef and vegetables, skyrocketed in Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city and economic capital, as well as other parts of the South.
However, there was an oversupply of the affected foodstuff in Northern Nigeria during the blockage period, resulting in a significant drop in prices and spoilage. Onion traders in the north were dismayed as the item's selling price plummeted dramatically. A bag of onions, which was worth 35,000 Naira ($85) prior to the strike, was reduced to 7,000 Naira ($17) during the blockade.
The threats by associations in northern Nigeria to block the supply of food items to the southern parts of the country have cast light on the fact that no country’s region is self-sufficient. In a broader picture, free trade across the country will help improve the livelihoods of producers and merchants of those products and also help to improve the country's foreign earnings.
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