Nigeria has no business importing rice —Bauchi gov

BAUCHI State governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, has stated that with the abundant arable land suitable for rice cultivation in most of the states in the country, including his state, Nigeria has no business importing rice.

The governor stated this on Sunday during his assessment visits to some major rice farmlands under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-supported Anchor Borrowers Scheme following a recent protests against resumption of importation of rice embarked upon by members of the Rice Farmers Association in the state.

Abubakar noted that with the efforts and performance of rice farmers and their commitment to rice cultivation in the country, coupled with the continuous support from government at all levels in the country, Nigeria would soon emerge major rice producer.

According to a press statement signed and made available to Tribune Online, on Monday, by Press Secretary to the governor, Malam Abubakar Al-Sadique, Governor Abubakar, while addressing the farmers after visiting farmlands with over 2,500 hectares of rice in Itas Gadau and Zaki local government areas of the state, assured the farmers of government’s commitment and continuous support to the success of the anchor borrowers scheme in the state.

He disclosed that his administration had provided N400 million to the programme as a palliative measure for the farmers to continue with cultivation that would have been hampered by the delay in the release of funds to associations by commercial banks.

The governor explained that the administration was compelled to take that action because of the failure of commercial banks to release the funds to the Anchor Borrowers Rice Farmers Associations in the state, but assured them that the problems encountered in accessing the funds from the scheme in the state were being addressed with the banks.