RICE LIKELY TO HIT N40,000 PER BAG BEFORE DECEMBER- Lokpobiri

Senator Heineken Lokpobiri,the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, has alerted that Nigeria as a nation spends about $22bn annually on food importation.

While speaking on Saturday at a town hall meeting in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the minister stated  the development had led to the astronomical hyke in price of rice and other commodities, stressing that if things were not done urgently and Nigerians fail to produce some of the these goods, before December the price of rice would hit N40,000 per a bag.

He reiterated the facts of a projection that by 2050, Nigeria’s population would be 450 million, wondering what would happen then if the people could not feed themselves now.

In his words, Lokpobiri said, “For your information, we spend about $22bn a year importing food into Nigeria. We know how many more dollars … and that is why you see the price of rice going up.

“Price of rice was N12,000 some months ago, but it is now about N26,000 and if we don’t start producing, by December it could be N40,000.

“Rice matures in three months. So, this is a wake up call for Bayelsa people to take the four farms we have seriously. The federal government has four farms in the state in our records. The average land you see in Bayelsa can grow rice, so the colonial masters were not wrong in their assessment when they said Niger Delta could feed not only Nigeria but the entire West Africa sub-region.

“Unfortunately, agriculture till today, is not a priority of the Niger Delta as far as the state governments are concerned because of oil.”

The minister stated that the Niger Delta states are yet to give priority to agriculture the way the North-West states such as Kebbi, Jigawa, Kano as well as other states like Lagos, Ebonyi, Anambra, have prioritised it. While also citing as instance that Anambra State, was not owing salaries despite the fact that it does not have oil but grows its GDP through the exportation of vegetables.