Governor Godwin Emefiele of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has expressed conviction that rice produced in the country is better when compared to foreign ones.
Addressing participants at the commissioning of the Gerawa rice mill with the capacity to produce 420 metric tonnes per day and the flag-off of the 2nd phase which would have the capacity to produce 560 metric tonnes per day, the CBN chief stated that Nigerian local rice is now very good for consumption, such that they can compete against foreign brands.
Emefiele’s words: “As of today, the quality of our milled rice can match the most foreign brand and as Nigerians, we need to become more patriotic and embrace Mr President’s mantra of producing what you eat and eating what you produce.
“The proliferation of our markets by substandard imported rice variety has been curtailed as we now have more Nigerian rice mill in the market with the support of the Customs who clamped down on smugglers.
“Rice remains a major staple food for every Nigerian household and that prominence justifies the attention we have placed on the commodity as a focal part of our food security drive in Nigeria.”
The CBN governor further said within a period of six years, the apex bank had successfully increased its integrated mills from 10 to 60, giving credits to the Federal Government’s Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP).
“Prior to the anchor borrowers program by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015, the country had less than 10 functional integrated mills with a combined capacity of less than 350,000 Metric Tonnes.
“This has grown astronomically to over 60 integrated mills with the combined capacity of over 3 million Metric Tonnes as of today. And about 10 more mills are scheduled to be commissioned this year.
“The growing number of integrated rice mills have been complimented by hundreds of small-scale mills scattered across the country.
“The enormous private sector investment that has been unlocked in the establishment of rice mills are testaments of the conducive environment we have been able to create in the rice value chain through our initiatives and stakeholders’ collaboration efforts,” Emefiele added.
The apex bank’s chief made this comment on the backdrop of the unveiling of a 1.2 million-bag paddy rice pyramid, in Abuja.
Following the unveiling, farmers predicted that the pyramid would influence a significant drop in the prices of rice, which is unarguably the most-consumed food staple in Nigeria.
