The Yoruba Youth Socio-Cultural Association (YYSA) has said the hike in prices of food items in the country is more artificial than economic theory-driven.

In a statement signed by Olalekan Hammed (National President) and Olawale Ajao (National Secretary), the group also lauded the closure of an Abuja Mall by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC).It, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for ordering security agents to go after food hoarders.

Meanwhile, some groups are set to organise a protest in Ibadan today over economic hardship in the country. The group has been circulating flyers since Friday. The flyer reads: “Peaceful protest to #End Nigeria hardship to take place at Mokola by 8.00 a.m. on Monday, February 19, 2024.”

SIMILARLY, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, has urged Tinubu to set up a special task force for the distribution of the approved 42,000 metric tonnes of grains from strategic reserved to Nigerians.Oyintiloye, who spoke with newsmen, yesterday, in Osogbo, said that the setting up of the task force was necessary to curb diversion of the grains.

He said that for the masses to benefit from the free grains, the President must put up the taskforce to cripple the activities of saboteurs, who were desperate to make gains from the pains of Nigerians. He said it would be a great disservice to the country and to the efforts of the President if the good gesture of the free grains is allowed to be hijacked by private individuals.

Oyintiloye, a former member of the defunct APC Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), also said Tinubu’s directive that security agencies should go after those hoarding food is a welcome development, saying that with the directive, those who were hoarding food to make unjustifiable gains would be brought to justice.

IN a related vein, religious leaders in Osun State, under the Ecumenical Conference of the Bishops of the Catholic, Anglican, African and Methodist Dioceses in Osogbo and President, Osun Baptist Conference, have described as shameful the refusal of state governments to disclose the increased allocations they have been receiving from the Federal Government since the removal of petrol subsidy.

They also alleged that some state governors had been hoarding and diverting relief materials and money meant for the poor and repackaging them for other purposes.

They said that “diversion of such fund is tantamount to stealing from the poor and it is repulsive to God.” The religious leaders gave the lamentation during a media briefing in Osogbo with the theme, “The Conversion of Heart and The Well-being of Our Nation.”

A statement read on behalf of the conference by the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Osogbo, Rt. Rev. John Oyejola, noted that the poor and the vulnerable are still wallowing in abject poverty despite that their state governors have been receiving huge subsidy allocations and relief materials on their behalf.