The Oyo State
Government on Sunday explained that it rejected the 1,800 bags of rice meant as
COVID-19 palliatives by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) because they were
truly bad and unfit for consumption.
A statement by the
Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Taiwo Adisa, who serves as a
member of the COVID-19 Task Force, indicated that any claims to the contrary
were a disservice to humanity and attempt at endangering the lives of the
people in the state.
“No government that
is worth its name would agree to serve its people with food items that are
infested with weevils that are clearly visible to the eyes,” the statement
read.
It recalled that on
Friday, April 24, members of the Food Security sub-committee of the Oyo State
COVID-19 Task Force embarked on an early morning meeting that lasted close to
three hours.
The meeting was to
review the report of the technical team that had been conducting tests on the
1,800 bags of 50kg rice presented to the state government by the Customs in
respect of Federal Government’s COVID-19 palliatives.
“The Committee
eventually invited the media, after coming to a conclusion that more than a
majority of the 1,800 bags were not fit for human consumption as they had been
infested with weevils that freely moved about on each of the bags kept at the
storehouse in the Secretariat, Ibadan. The weevils were clearly noticeable as
each of the warehouses were opened. Television cameras were allowed to film the
bags of rice just to show the clear reasons why the bags were being returned.
“A letter that was
co-signed by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development,
Commissioner for Special Duties and the Executive Adviser on Agribusiness, was
also prepared for onward delivery to the Oyo/Osun Command of the Customs which
supplied the rice in the first instance. The state government neither intended
to dramatize nor politicise the development. It was just out to state the facts
as they are: we cannot serve our people expired rice and replace hunger with
another disease.
It said the
Executive Adviser to the governor on Agribusiness, Dr. Debo Akande, who
addressed the media clearly stated that if the Customs could muster other bags
of rice in good condition, the state would readily receive such.
“But the immediate
reaction from Customs, Oyo/Osun Command was a bit comforting as it passed a
message to the state government that the bad bags of rice must have been picked
from the wrong store. We also got confirmation that Customs was ready to
immediately send in 600 bags to replace the bad ones and that representatives
of the state were free to immediately come for an inspection.
“The state’s team
that went for the inspection, however, returned another sad verdict: at least
30 percent of the 600 bags promised as a replacement were also infested with
weevils. To our surprise, statements started flying to town, detailing
confusing messages. We wish to place on record that the statements credited to
the Customs Service were at best a poor colouration of the truth.
“Besides, the
opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, which commented on the
matter, was merely dabbling in what it knows nothing about. This is not about
politics and political grandstanding. The Customs claimed that the Special
Adviser on Security, Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni (rtd) was part of the
team that inspected the rice. That’s a white lie.
“The team that
inspected the rice while at the Customs warehouses came from the State
Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU) domiciled in the Ministry of Budget and
Planning, while the sub-committee on Food Security principally resides in the
Ministry of Agriculture. The sub-committee took its time before it came to the
unavoidable conclusion that the bags of rice be returned. It has nothing to do
with political correctness that some could wrongly ascribe.”
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