The National President of the Tomato and Orchard Producers Association of Nigeria (TOPAN), Bola Oyeleke, has thrown his weight behind the decision by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Governors’ Forum to eliminate illegal checkpoints and harmonise levies across the country describing it as a major step toward reviving the country’s troubled agricultural value chain.Oyeleke, in an interview with Daily Independent, said that the presence of unauthorised checkpoints on major roads has long posed a serious threat to the movement of perishable goods, especially vegetables and tomatoes, resulting in increased post-harvest losses, extortion, 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,” he said in an interview.
He added that the impact of these roadblocks goes beyond logistics challenges, as they also result in frequent extortion and harassment of truck drivers, sometimes leading to accidents and damage to the goods being transported.
“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.
The TOPAN president also pointed out that multiple taxation both on the road and in the markets continues to weigh heavily on the entire supply chain, from farmers to marketers.
He thereby called for a centralized and harmonized taxation system that would replace the fragmented and often illegal levies encountered by food transporters and traders.
“We also have to look at the markets. There are a series of taxes there too. If the government can centralise and harmonize all these, it will be easier for farmers, marketers, and transporters to do business without fear or unnecessary losses,” he said.
Oyeleke, stressed that illegal taxation affects food prices and farmer profitability, particularly for small-scale producers who often have to bear the burden of added costs caused by delays and bribes along the roads.
These burdens, according to him, are eventually passed down to them through reduced farm gate prices offered by middlemen who account for transportation and checkpoint-related costs.
“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 lamented.
He described the resilience of smallholder farmers as admirable but said the system continues to work against them unless structural reforms like removing illegal checkpoints and streamlining taxation are fully implemented.
“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 stated.