Every year for the last ten years, food prices have consistently increased in Nigeria at the start of Ramadan. 2025 is the first time since records have been kept that food prices have actually reduced during Ramadan.
And the amazing thing is that this year, both Ramadan and the Christian fasting season of Lent are occurring simultaneously. This should ordinarily have put more pressure on food prices. But we are seeing the opposite happening. Why? This is the TInubu Effect occasioned by the Office of the National Security Adviser’s capable management of Nigeria’s food security.
For the first time, Nigeria now has an NSA who is not just focused on physical security, which has seen Nigeria’s Global Terror Index score improve from 8.065 in 2023 to 7.575—our best score in over eight years.
The ONSA is also focused on food security and other aspects of security, such as fuel and power security. In furtherance of this, the ONSA has stopped the practice of staple goods leaving Nigeria for neighbouring countries during festive seasons while providing physical security for farming communities whose operations were once hampered by insecurity.
Every truck carrying farm produce is monitored up to the market so it cannot be diverted to neighbouring countries. Livestock is monitored when it enters Nigeria. Dams are being surveilled, and water distribution to irrigate farms is now treated as a National Security issue.
Additionally, the practice of smuggling Nigerian petrol to our neighbours has been nipped in the bud. Last year, the ONSA facilitated the closure of over 1800 fuel stations that violated smuggling regulations. That punitive measure put the fear of the law into the sector, and now fuel smuggling is at an all-time low in Nigeria. The result is that, along with a rise in local refining, Nigeria is now witnessing a steady reduction in fuel prices. This intelligent approach to national security is now bearing fruit.
Look at the first headline from 2022, bearing witness to food price increase because of Ramadan. But in 2025, the headline is the reverse. The Tinubu Effect is real!
Reno Omokri Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022. 21st Most Talked About Person in Africa, 2024.
