Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has said that rice from the state’s farm in Imota, named ‘Eko Rice’, would be ready for retail sales six months from now.
The governor gave this assurance on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the rice mill at Imota, a suburb in Ikorodu, saying the government would overhaul and upgrade the rice mill facility to a higher standard in order to produce at an additional 10 metric tones per hour to meet up with the expectations of the people.
According to him, “You are aware that we recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Kebbi State Government on rice production, the idea is to encourage consistent flow of paddy rice and put an end to rice importation. This will not stop there, we also intend to partner with other State Governments that have paddy rice as well.”
He said, “The State needs a consistent flow of raw material to meet production capacity of the Rice Mill so that the whole idea of getting rice imported from abroad will be gone forever. Government is an enabler, we are supposed to regulate and in so doing all variables required to make this rice mill a private sector initiative will commence immediately.”
Governor Ambode stressed that the rice mill would be restructured and the infrastructure improved upon in order to attract investment from the private investors, adding that the mill was a major investment by the state government that cannot be under utilized.
He revealed that the intention of the present administration was to increase rice production in the state as well as give traders and major rice marketers in the country the required quality and brand of rice desired by consumers.
