Abubakar Bagudu, Kebbi state governor, has
condemned the continuous importation of rice into the
country, describing it as the importation of poison.

Bagudu is the chairman, presidential task force on rice
and wheat production.

He told journalists on Sunday in Birnin-Kebbi that the
imported rice, auctioned by different countries, was no
longer good for human consumption.

The chairman, who expressed regret over citizens’
patronage of foreign rice, said imported rice usually
contained preservatives, which are poisonous.

He said that there were three major importers of rice
into the country who specialised in importing very
cheap, auctioned rice into the country.

The governor said that Thailand in April 2017,
auctioned 1.62 million tonnes of rice at about $140
per tonne whereas the market price of it was $700 per
tonne.

“Countries, particularly Thailand, India, China and
Vietnam, buy a lot of paddy from their farmers and
keep in storage sometimes, as long as nine years so
that by so doing, they are supporting their farmers,” he
said.

“A country like Thailand, for example, may have eight
million tonnes of rice in storage; so occasionally, they
will auction the ones that are almost going bad that is,
the one that is not fit for human consumption.

“They sell the paddy as low as 20 per cent less than
the international market price. Those that import rice
into Nigeria will go and buy the paddy and clean them
up.

“Because they do not buy rice at the international
price, our local farmers who are offering rice for $500
will not be competitive.

“If that importer is to buy fresh rice, he cannot bring it
into Nigeria below $700 per tonne.

“This is the biggest obstacle to our rice efforts
because consumers say local rice is expensive; it is
not expensive because we are not comparing it with
equivalent rice elsewhere,” the chairman explained.

The governor said that out of the 600 million tonnes of
rice produced in the world, Nigeria produced about six
million tonnes which represented one per cent of the
production.

Bagudu said that rice could grow in the 36 states of
the federation and called on stakeholders and citizens
to come together to significantly advance rice
production.

TheCable