Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari on Monday inaugurated the long-awaited 32-metric tonnes per hour Lagos Rice Mill located in Imota, Ikorodu, a suburb of Lagos.
The president arrived in Lagos on a two-day visit that will see him commission a host of projects in the commercial capital of the country.
According to reports from NAN, Buhari, arrived in Imota around 5:30 p.m. and took a brief tour of the mill in the company of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, amongst other dignitaries and government officials. The president unveiled the rice and observed a brief display of how it is being produced and packaged.
Details of the rice mill: The Lagos Rice Mill, Imota is a two x 16 metric tonnes per-hour mill standing on an area of 8.5 hectares of land.
- The project has an annual paddy requirement of over 240,000 metric tonnes to produce 2.5 million bags of 5OKg rice per annum.
- The mill is located in an area of land of about 22 hectares big, with the mill itself occupying 8.5 hectares. The rest of the land is to be used for an industrial park.
- The rice mill is regarded as the largest mill in Africa and the third-largest mill in the world.
Sanwo-Olu Comments
Speaking at the event, Sanwo-Olu said that Lagos was ready to support Buhari’s rice revolution. According to him, the Lagos Imota Rice Mill is part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s agricultural revolution.
- “When he started his government, he says Nigeria must grow what they eat and they should eat what they grow. “We are happy that Lagos is the testament for that. With 2.8 million bags of 50kg rice per annum, Lagos is ready to support rice and food revolution in Nigeria.
- “The units rice mill will create close to 250,000 direct and indirect jobs. We want to thank the local communities of Imota in Ikorodu. We thank you all for waiting patiently.
- “Mr president is indeed excited that we have stated another first in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
Other comments
Also speaking, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, Commissioner for Agriculture, said that the mill would produce wholesome rice for Lagos residents at an affordable price.
- Dr. Rotimi Fashola, Special Adviser to the governor on Rice Initiative, said the mill would perform cleaning, boiling, drying, sorting, hauling, polishing, and bagging of rice using the digital, automated, and latest machine in the world.
- In his contribution, Dr. Femi Oke, Chairman, of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State and South-West Zone, commended the state government for the laudable initiative. Oke said that farmers would continue to support the mill by providing more paddy.
- Mr. Raphael Hunsa, the Chairman, of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Lagos State chapter, said the new rice mill would encourage farmers to produce more in the state.
- “This project is very wonderful, it is a thing of joy to us as rice farmers in Lagos. I am happy that such a thing is happening in Lagos,” he said.
Parts of the reporting for this article were sourced from NAN.
