THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh on Thursday said that the federal government would meet millers for charting ways of crashing the price of local rice in the market.
Speaking during a meeting with rice farmers, Millers and Processors, Chief Ogbeh said this plan became necessary following the continued increase of rice especially during the Christmas celebration.
His words: “We have been discussing the modalities to put in place to make sure that local rice sells much cheaper and that the prices can fall to the levels of foreign rice and eventually, below the levels of foreign rice.
“Every country in the world supports agriculture whether they call it subsidy or support, it is exactly the same thing. We are happy that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has agreed to bring down interest rates on Agric and manufacturing to one digit.
“We applaud that decision but at the level of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and BOA, we have set up a fund which we intend to manage to support both the farmers, millers and marketers to bring down the price of rice because we are concerned about the cost of rice for the Nigerian family.
Furthermore, the Minister said “We want our people to feed well and feed cheaply but these things have to be managed carefully because we are dealing with public funds.
“We are also going to meet in about two weeks and organise rice fair beginning in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and one or two other cities to showcase the achievements of Nigerian in rice production.
“There are those who do not believe that Nigerian rice exists but we know they do and we are very proud of the millers for their tenacity, investments and pains they have gone through in the last few years in trying to respond to a national call.
“We cannot say enough about Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), we are very proud of you because there are those who didn’t believe it could happen so we thank all of you.
“I want to convey to you the appreciation of not only the President but also the Vice President, a nation does not thrive at an import bill of food of 22 billion dollars a year.
“We just can’t manage it and I want this message to reach those who keep thinking that importation is the answer, we don’t have the money, we want to create jobs so those of you investing in these sectors, we are very proud of you and we want to thank you very much. We also acknowledge the fact that the floods have done a very terrible damage to rice fields, the water levels are so high, many rice farms have been flooded.
“We have taken into account the suggestions by farmers that we should look for varieties of rice that are flood tolerant, we will activate our contacts and research institutes to see what we can do quickly and we accept the commitments you have made as Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria that as soon as the rains go down, you will go into new cropping so that some of the residual water in land and irrigation facilities will give us another harvest of rice in about 90 days to 120 days so we can supply rice to the millers”
Ogbeh further noted that in two weeks time, the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), and the millers would meet to see how rice milling would be supported in order to have a low-cost rice during the Christmas season.
“In two weeks time when we meet, between the BOA and the millers, we will put in place a strategy to support rice milling so we can see what we can do for lower prices at Christmas so two weeks time, a letter will be sent to you by the director agribusiness and also talk with the CBN but be sure that we want you to succeed, to be rich, to make a success like other countries have done but one day, we want foreign rice to be a very rare commodity in this country.
Speaking on rice smuggling, Chief Ogbeh said “we are aware that they are still very busy and we want to assure you that not too long ago, the President met with the President of Benin Republic and there were certain discussions.
“If in spite of those discussions there is no heed to the matter, I assure you that government is not asleep. Decisions will be made very soon to put a final solution to it. We appeal to our journalists to please be at the side of this country.
“I know you have to be objective in your reportage but we are talking about our country. No nation became great because it was the greatest importer of everything, from toothpicks, turbine, tomato paste, fruit juice concentrate, paper, erasers, rubber bands.
“What do we do with 200 million people when they wake from sleep and there are those who are out there, telling us that we should do nothing about cutting down on imports meanwhile, oil prices are so flexible that nobody can count on oil revenues to continue to sustain us.
“If India and China are doing as foolish as we are doing here, they will cease to exist. We have to produce here and we have to create jobs and while govt is trying to stabilise power and putting railways and roads, the private sector and Nigerian as a whole must resolve that we cannot survive as a country if these things don’t end early enough, where are the jobs for our children and we ask the media, please take on these words, it is about you.
“We don’t have too much time to stay but in the future, where will you be in a country of 400 million where there are no jobs, no houses, no food.
“Fight for this country, they call us all sorts of names but the truth is that what we are trying to do is to keep this country afloat, making it as strong, rich and as happy as any country can do. We will bear your suggestions in mind and when the BOA is finally privatised, 30 per cent of the shares would be reserved for farmers, please buy shares, make it your bank, let it become your bank, let is become the farmers bank then we can discuss interest rates and take control of agriculture because even the 9 per cent offered us still has to go down but the bank has to survive. If you borrow, try and payback and if there are issues that make you to fail, please let us know.”
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