Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the rising cost of diesel has adversely affected his fish business.
Obasanjo spoke on Tuesday during a south-west fish farmers’ congress held at the presidential library (OOPL) in Ogun state.
He said the high diesel price may turn fish farming into bankruptcy, adding that he is “already sweating” over the high cost.
According to Obasanjo, with the current price of diesel at N800 a litre, the production of a kilogram of fish is N1,400.
He said farmers must not sell less than N1,500 as anything short of that would lead to “outright loss”.
“If we don’t come together as an association, nationally, we will sink individually. If we come together, we will swim and survive together,” he said.
“And while we are working on coming together, I thought that the situation has arisen whereby we have to do something urgently.
“The price of diesel has gone sky 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.”
He added that fish production would be out of reach, and “then people will be producing fish outside Nigeria and dump 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,” the former president added.
Obasanjo asked the farmers “how many of you are using diesel in your production? Because I use diesel, and I’m already sweating. I’m already sweating.”
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