Kaduna State Governor Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has declared a state of emergency on tomato sector, saying that 80% of tomato farms have been ravaged by a pest called Tuta Absoluta. Meanwhile, many Nigerians have noticed the high rise of tomato prices, and have instead attributed it to the new petroleum pump price. According to sources, five tomatoes that used to be N50, are now sold for N200. A basket of tomatoes used to be about N14,000 is now about N30,000. Some other Nigerians too, are attributing the tomato scarcity and high price to the Dangote tomato paste factory in Kano, insinuating that Dangote is buying up bulk of tomatoes from the famers.
