The Governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has stated that he would request the federal government through the Ministry of Agriculture to allow importation of rice paddy for the Imota rice mill to process.
The Governor stated this during a media chat while lamenting the reason for the non-functioning of the Imota rice mill to tackle the skyrocketing food inflation in the state, especially rice.
According to the Governor,
- “The challenge that we have is feedstock- that is paddies. We have two aggregators- AFEX and Lagos commodity exchange that we have committed to look for paddy for us”
- “One of the things that has happened is that paddy is not easily growable in the Southern part of the country. We have farmland in Ogun, Osun and Oyo states but it cannot meet up with the size and capacity of the mill.
- “One of the things that we realized is that up north, there are a few issues around paddy. So for our mill, we are going to be having a conversation with the Minister for Transport and with the federal government. If they can permit us to do a one-off import of paddy for about two vessels. That can take us about 8 to 9 months production of close to 2 million bags of 50kg”
- “If we have that exemption, we can use that to encourage the rice farmers to go back to their farms”
Furthermore, on the rice mill, the Governor stated that the state is expecting some paddies from the north through active collaboration with state Governors in that part of the country.
Recommended reading: Nigeria to import 2.1 million metric tons of rice, become top buyer globally in 2024 – USDA
25% discount Sunday market
The Governor as a measure of tackling the food inflation across the state promised to begin a 25% discount on Sunday markets across 48 locations in the state.
The Governor noted beneficiaries of the project will be those spending N25,000 and below on food items who would be given a rebate immediately after purchase.
He recalled that the initiative was first developed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
What you should know
The Imota rice mill is a 2.8 million 50kg bag capacity rice mill commissioned by President Buhari in January 2023 but has failed to produce to capacity owing to lack of paddies and other issues. The mill was built at an estimated cost of N20 billion.