FG’s rice pyramid

IN a move reminiscent of the groundnut pyramids that once symbolised the era of abundant agricultural produce, especially of staple food in the country, the Federal Government, last Tuesday, unveiled a rice pyramid at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The unveiling was ostensibly to demonstrate to Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration’s efforts to improve  food production in the country had begun to yield results. And for an administration that has received an avalanche of censure for its defective policies that have occasioned soaring food prices, it was indeed time to showcase the result of its efforts and shame, or at least silence, critics of its activities. It is nonetheless debatable whether that objective was achieved as there was little or no applause from the citizenry for the feat. Indeed, dispirited Nigerians merely feasted their eyes on the mountainous bags of paddy rice stacked before them without any improvement on their badly degraded welfare arising from relatively unavailable, and more significantly unaffordable, staple food in the market.

Not a few are wondering about the propriety of launching a rice pyramid with funfair when sufficiency in production of staples is already considered a given in saner climes. The irony is that the country is not in any way near sufficiency in the production of rice judging by the availability and price of local rice in the market.  Yes, it is good to attempt to  reawaken the citizenry’s consciousness to the country’s past exploits in agricultural production and the imperative of reenacting the good old days when Nigeria and Nigerians made fortunes from the sale of farm produce, but it needed not have been by building a rice pyramid in the FCT for  a photo-op. The groundnut pyramids that the Federal Government is apparently nostalgic about were not simulated; they happened as a matter of course, and out of planned and purposive farm production and the need to stack the produce in proximate locations for ease of transportation to the seaports for exports. They were not  built for showmanship.

Perhaps the Federal Government needs to know that the most pragmatic and effective way to demonstrate that its policy on food production is yielding results is to flood the markets with quality local rice at a price that is markedly lower than that of foreign rice. That is the only way rice pyramids can make sense to the ordinary Nigerians, and not just the few individuals in the corridors of power. The taste of the pudding is in the eating. In the past, the sight of groundnut pyramids conveyed the notion of wealth and self-sufficiency which the populace could easily relate to because it matched the reality of their daily living.

The recent rice  pyramid launching, on the other hand,  has raised a litany of questions: why did the ceremony take place in Abuja? Did Abuja and its environs contribute significantly to the production of the paddy used in building the pyramids? Or is it close to the targeted rice processing plants since the pyramids were built with unprocessed rice? Were the pyramids indicative of surplus production, which seems to be negated by market realities? And should there have been any celebration or launching at all? Was it not a waste of scarce resources to set up a rice pyramid committee with a budget to build structures that would have to be pulled down, also at a cost, after the unveiling and photo-op? How rational was that course of action at a time when it is obvious that the Federal Government has been applying borrowed funds to run its bureaucracy? And will the rice pyramid usher in an era of affordable local rice on a sustainable basis?

Honestly, the rice pyramid show was akin to whitewashing a decrepit house with colourful paints without preceding such painting with fixing of the structural defects. It is common knowledge locally and internationally that many able and willing farmers in virtually all the food production belts of the country are currently unemployed or underemployed because of grave insecurity. Boko Haram terrorists, killer herdsmen and bandits are still prowling the country’s rural areas killing, maiming,  abducting and extorting money from innocent citizens and burning their farms. Consequently, it would not be a misplaced question to ask where the surplus production that gave rise to the rice pyramid in question came from.

We urge the government to refocus its energy on what is important, and that is confronting the scourge of insecurity head-on, especially in the rural areas, so that farmers can go back to their farms to produce crops without trepidation.  The rice pyramid ceremony was at best an official gambit aimed at burnishing the image of the government in respect of production of staple food. The reason it was met with the expression of cynicism by many is that it was orchestrated amidst heightening economic hardship and misery for ordinary Nigerians. Truth be told, no amount of rice pyramids launched by the Federal Government will resonate with the citizenry except it is attended by a significant crash in the market price of locally produced rice.