… as Ambode crashes price to N12,000 per bag
Lake Rice promised by the Lagos State government ahead of the Christmas will be off-loaded in the markets this week, as 60 trailer-load, mostly 50kg bags, arrived the state from Kebbi State at the weekend.
BusinessDay is informed that a 40-foot trailer takes 600 bags of rice. This means that the 60 trailers expected will be carrying 36,000 bags of rice.
The rice consignment, according to BusinessDay checks, is being received at the Imota Rice Mill in Ikorodu in Lagos, from where they will be distributed to the various local government areas in the state, ready for sale to the public. A 50kg bag is to be sold at N12,000 and not N13,000 as earlier widely reported. Meanwhile, the going price of a 50kg bag of rice in the open market is between N18,000 and N22,000, depending on the brand.
Ganiu Okanlawon, special adviser to Lagos State government on food security, told BusinessDay at the weekend that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode had directed the price of the 50kg bag to be crashed to N12,000, while the 25kg bag should go for N6,000.
Okanlawon said a committee set up by the government to handle the rice was working out the modalities for an effective distribution, and by this week, the Lake Rice would be available to interested buyers.
When BusinessDay visited the Imota Rice Mill on Friday, armed policemen in their numbers were seen, apparently providing security for the rice and the personnel that were being expected from Kebbi. “Sixty trailer-load is coming in from Kebbi tonight. That is why we are here,” an official said on Friday in Imota.
The name ‘Lake’ is an acronym for ‘Lagos-Kebbi’ and evolved from the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between Lagos and Kebbi in March this year, in which both states agreed to jointly pursue increased local food production with rice as one of the major components.
Under the MoU, Kebbi State, blessed with a large expanse of arable land, would do more of the rice cultivation and ship the paddy to Lagos for processing at the mill in Imota, for which capacity is being upgraded from 2.5 to 10 metric tons per hour.
Okanlawon had announced last week that the distribution of the rice would start on Thursday, December 15, across the 20 local government areas and the 37 local council development areas of the state and buyers would pay N13,000 for 50kg bag.
In anticipation of the commencement of sales, prospective buyers of the ‘cheap’ rice thronged the council secretariats on Thursday, but were disappointed as council officials said they were yet to receive any consignment.
At Ikeja and Apapa local government area secretariats visited, officials said, “We are waiting for the rice to arrive. We hope that by Monday (today), the rice will arrive and residents of our council can have opportunity to buy.”
Okalanwon, however, explained that the delay was to allow the committee set up by the government perfect its distribution arrangement, in order to ensure that the “process is not hijacked by moneybags” thereby denying the ordinary people the opportunity of buying the rice.
The resort to direct supply of the bagged rice from Kebbi is apparently to fill the gap this festive period, pending the full rehabilitation of the Imota Rice Mill, which would process the paddies to be supplied from Kebbi in line with the MoU signed between the two states.
The rice mill, commissioned in 2012, and with a capacity of 2.5 metric tons per hour, is being upgraded to 10 metric tons per hour, after being grounded for two years because of what officials called, “technical hitches.”
Toyin Suara, Lagos State commissioner for agriculture, told BusinessDay that “the contractor is working on the mill.” He did not, however, specify when the work would be completed.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
