The federal government says it
will shut down the land border between Nigeria and a neigbouring country in a
few days’ time to avoid smuggling of foreign rice into the country.
Audu Ogbeh, minister of
agriculture and rural development, made the disclosure in Abuja on Monday while
speaking with youths in a leadership clinic under the auspices of Guardians of
the Nation International (GOTNI).
Ogbeh did not mention the
particular country and border but noted that the action had become necessary to
encourage local production and sustain the economy of the country.
The minister said a neighbouring
country was bent on destroying the economy of the country and discouraging
local production of rice, hence the need to shut down the border.
“Our other problem is smuggling.
As we speak, a neighbor of ours is importing more rice than China is
importing,” he said.
“They do not eat parboiled rice,
they eat white rice, they use their ports to try and damage our economy.
“I am telling you now because in
a few days, you will hear the border has been shut, we are going to shut it to
protect you, us and protect our economy.
“You will start seeing all sorts
of negative things on the internet. Let me tell you why we need to shut the
border, I grow rice, I was the first Nigerian to mill rice free of stones, if
you plant rice in certain parcels of land, some poisonous materials gets into
the rice.
“There are three kinds of water
in their natural state; there is fresh water from the river, salt water from
the sea, blackish water.
“If you go to the Delta in many
countries, in South East Asia where they grow the rice, if you plant rice in
the same place like four to six years continuously, the quantum of arsenic
begins to increase and arsenic causes cancer and that is what they are dumping
for us.
“Some people say they prefer Thai
rice because they are very sophisticated, welcome to poison.”
He said the federal government in
two years reduced rice importation by 95 percent and increased the number of
rice farmers from five to 30 million.
The minister said states like
Anambra, Ebonyi, Kebbi, Kano, Jigawa were doing well in rice production.
“We just have to handwork you to
prosperity otherwise, this country will not grow. My wish for you is to have a
better time that we had,” Ogbeh said.
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