The National President of the Tomato and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria (TOPAN), Bola Oyeleke, has commended the Federal Government and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum for their joint decision to eliminate illegal checkpoints and harmonise levies nationwide, describing the move as a critical intervention to revive Nigeria’s struggling agricultural value chain.
Speaking during an interview with the media, Oyeleke highlighted the devastating impact of unauthorized checkpoints on the movement of perishable goods, particularly vegetables and tomatoes, which he said has led to widespread post-harvest losses, food inflation, and hardship for smallholder farmers.
“Illegal checkpoints have been disturbing the agricultural sector. They delay the movement of perishable goods like tomatoes and vegetables, cause damage due to lateness, and lead to significant losses,” Oyeleke lamented.
He noted that the challenges extend beyond delayed logistics, pointing to frequent extortion and harassment of truck drivers, which can escalate into accidents and damage to goods, further worsening farmers’ losses.
“It is not only about extorting money. These people are very brutal to truck drivers. When the drivers try to avoid them, it can lead to serious accidents. This not only damages goods but makes road transport more dangerous for those in the agricultural sector,” he said.
Oyeleke also underscored how multiple and often illegal taxes, imposed both on highways and in markets, place an unsustainable burden on farmers and traders, ultimately driving up food prices and eroding farmers’ profits.
He called for a centralized taxation system to replace the fragmented levies encountered by food transporters and marketers across different states and local government jurisdictions.
“We also have to look at the markets. There are a series of taxes there too. If the government can centralize and harmonize all these, it will be easier for farmers, marketers, and transporters to do business without fear or unnecessary losses,” he stressed.
According to Oyeleke, these burdens are passed down to smallholder farmers through reduced farm gate prices, as middlemen factor in the additional costs of bribes and delays when negotiating purchases.
“The small-scale farmer is forced to sell at very low prices just to ensure their goods can make it to major markets like Lagos, Port Harcourt, or Ibadan. At the end of the day, they can’t even recover their cost of production,” he said.
He praised the government’s commitment to dismantling illegal checkpoints as a significant first step, but emphasized that structural reforms across the supply chain are essential for Nigeria’s agricultural sector to thrive.
“This is a good step by the government. It’s not just about road checkpoints but also about fixing the entire supply chain to allow goods and services to move freely across the country,” he concluded.
