Nigerians has continue to experience the reverse of what the federal government promised on the most consumed food stuff in the country, the month of November has come and gone, yet the price of rice has not come down and may not likely fall this year as the price of dollar remains high and local farmers are yet to start milling rice.
As the price of rice went astronomically high like prices of other products in the country, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, declared that the price of rice would start to fall from last month, November, as Nigerians boosted local production.
The Agriculture and Rural Development Minister had stated that more Nigerians had returned to their various farms, adding that at the next harvesting season in November (last month), the price of rice would start to crash.
This came as the government said that the delay in the approval of the 2016 budget had made it impossible to implement the capital expenditure in the agricultural sector.
Chief Audu Ogbeh said this while addressing members of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at the headquarters of the ministry in Abuja.
Ogbeh, who stated that the government could not be involved in the importation of rice as speculated in some quarters, stressed that his ministry would not encourage rice importation because it would be detrimental to local production.
He said the federal government was against rice smuggling and noted that the Seme border had become a notorious route for the smuggling of contraband products into the country.
“We will not encourage rice importation and there is no way our ministry or government can be involved in importing rice when we are working hard to be self-sufficient in local production. By November when the full-scale harvest starts, rice prices will fall,” the minister said.
This came as good news to Nigerians who have endured the hardship of inflation since the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, days after November, there is still no sign of the price coming down as investigations in the major rice markets in the cities reveal almost the absence of local rice, while foreign smuggled rice arevintagely displayed.
The surprising thing is that the few available local rice in the city market is even more expensive than the foreign ones.
At the leading rice market,Daleko, in Mushin, Lagos, while a 50kg of smuggled imported long grain rice sells for N18,000 to N18,5000, the locally grown rice of the same quantity sells for N21,000 to N22,000.
A bag of 50kg long grain rice from Ebonyi State, ‘African Sisi’, sells for N21,000. Also the same quantity of rice from Benue State, ‘Mama Pride’, sells for N20,000. The unpolished locally grown rice is even more expensive. A 50kg of Ofada rice, grown in Ogun State, goes for about N28,000 while a similar rice from Ebonyi State also sells for about N26,000.
Investigations reveal that the price of the unpolished rice is higher because health conscious consumers prefer it as it is perceived to be superior as the natural nutrients have not been stripped off as a result of processing.
Explaining why the locally grown rice is more expensive, AlhajiSanniAdamu, a major rice dealer, said it was one of the Nigerian factors.
Prompting him to explain what he meant, he said that a lot of expenses are incurred while handling the product and transporting from the towns it is cultivated to the major cities. For instance, he said, “it costs N2,500 to transport a 50kg of Mama Pride from Benue State to Lagos markets while it costs less to transport the same quantity of smuggled rice from the Nigerian/ Seme and Idiriko Borders to the market.”
Though, the locally grown rice is cheaper in the areas where they are grown. Research reveals that a 50kg bag of ‘African Sisi’ sells for about N19,000 in the eastern part of the country with the smuggled rice selling as high as N23,000 to N24,000.
On why only few bags of locally grown rice can be seen in the market despite the federal government’s promise that there will be surplus local rice in the market this month, AlhajiAdamu, whose warehouse is at No. 300 Kampbell line, in Daleko market, lamented that Nigerian farmers were yet to start harvesting rice, adding that “though consumers demand more for the imported long grain rice.”
Speaking with Chief Comfort Idowu,another major rice dealer at Iddo rice market in Lagos, she said that going by everything on ground, the price of rice will not fall this month or even next month.
“How will the price fall this month when foreign exchange is still going up and our local farmers are yet to harvest rice? Even if they harvest rice, can they produce enough to feed half the country?” she questioned.
“Okay, at this Iddo market, how many brands and bags of local rice have you seen? The few bags of local rice here cannot even feed the people in this market, not to talk of the whole of Nigeria,” she hissed.
“The price of rice will not fall now except the federal government lifts the ban on importation and empowers our local farmers. The ban on rice is just creating avenues for the Custom officers to make more money by extorting money from smugglers and selling off some of the seized rice,” lamented Mr. Michael Ikeduru, a rice merchant at Iddo market.
Ganiyu Quadri, chairman of Alimosho LGA, had also said a bag of rice will drop to N9000 in Lagos before this month. Retailers are of the opinion that the rising price of rice is due to the ban on its importation. They believe that the hike in price is due to the activities of some individuals who monopolise the market.