I have read with consternation and bewilderment, the shockingly disgusting article written by one Feyi Fawehinmi published in the Guardian newspaper of 30 April 2019, titled ‘Rice Smugglers are patriotic’.
Obviously, the greedy, lazy and wicked rice smuggling cartel in Nigeria did a very bad job of hiring Mr Fawehinmi to defend their evil and nefarious agenda of destroying the country’s economy and harming public health through the importation of toxic rice.
I wouldn’t want to dissipate my energy joining issues with Fawehinmi because his article failed to provide any cogent reasons to justify his blind support for rice smugglers but there is need to set the records straight for a number of reasons:
One. Research has shown that Nigeria spends at least $22 billion on food importation annually out of which about $1.6 billion or roughly N576 billion is spent on rice importation alone. This humongous amount is being churned out to foreign countries particularly India and Thailand at a time Nigeria is still struggling to rebuild its foreign reserves. Any sensible Nigerian would understand that instead of wasting our hard-earned forex to enrich countries that do not have our best interests at heart, the federal government ought to re-channel the forex to support millions of local rice farmers and millers to produce enough rice that can feed the entire country.
After all, Nigeria has more than 84 million hectares of arable lands from which at least five million hectares are suitable for growing rice. Out of this number, only 3.2 million hectares are being utilized to produce 3.7 million metric tons of rice yearly which covers 50 percent of total rice consumption across the country.
But instead of encouraging the federal government to deploy more funds to increase the utilization of the remaining 1.8 million hectares or even more lands to boost rice production, people like Fawehinmi, clearly out of stark ignorance are asking the government to open borders to enable the importation of toxic rice that ends up killing us gradually.
Second. Does Mr. Fawehinmi know that in 2010 Nigeria spent over $1 billion to import 10-year-old expired rice from India while its own rice harvest was allowed to rot away due to lack of roads to markets and processing plants, according to Economist magazine? If, God forbid, Mr Fawehinmi or any of his family members were to be afflicted by one of the numerous deadly diseases associated with consumption of toxic foreign rice, we wouldn’t hear him defending smugglers, but would instead turn around and blame the government for not protecting the country’s citizens by allowing smugglers to have a field day importing poison through porous borders? Third. Talking about the financial support being extended to rice farmers and other crop producers by the federal government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), like the N150 billion anchor-borrower’s scheme, it is out of genuine concern over the dangers of rice smuggling and the need to boost employment and reduce poverty that the government conceived the plan.
Fourth. Fawehinmi in his article accused Nigerian rice millers and processors of selling their product at higher rates than the foreign but what he does not understand is extent of wickedness of the rice smugglers he is defending so passionately. What he does not know is that these evil and morally bankrupt smugglers would smuggle toxic rice and then repackaged it in bags of local rice millers and sell them at higher price giving buyers the impression that they are buying local rice! Haba, how can you in good conscience defend this wickedness?
Even if there are differences in prices of local and foreign rice, it is pertinent to note that while rice production and processing are heavily subsidized in rice exporting countries, that is yet to happen in Nigeria. After all, rice processors have created and are creating millions of jobs that are helping to take jobless youths off the streets, while also safeguarding our health through production of rice in a healthy and hygienic environment.
If the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) is a cartel, it certainly must be a patriotic one!
Finally, on his wild accusation that many rice farmers acquired new wives with the loans they received from the CBN, my response to him is that the government is not as dull as he might think because it has placed stringent measures on how to reclaim its funds, making it impossible not to repay. However, it is not a crime for any successful businessman, rice processors or not to marry more wives, even if his marriage was made possible by drawing profits from loans he had acquired from the government.
This is simply a cry of a drowning man. The days of smuggling of unhealthy rice are over as Nigeria’s production and processing capabilities are increasing and becoming more competitive by the day. Consumers are also becoming more conscious of the choices that impact their well-being. For this, Sai RIPAN
Engr. Nazifi sent this piece from Gidan Shinkafa, Kano.
Fashola, please checkLokoja-Ajaokuta road
The stretch of the ever-busy road between Lokoja nad Ajaokuta in Kogi State which serves as a link between Abuja and the southern states has remained a source of concern to road users for several years. One wonders why that portion has been left to deteriorate so badly over the years. I am sure budgetary allocations must have been made for it several times but that portion of the road is getting worse by the days. I wish to use this opportunity to appeal to the Works minister to please, look into the state of that road and urgently do something about it, as it is a major link between the FCT and other parts of the country.
Betty Ajunwa, Onitsha
Stop this pampering of rapists
I am not satisfied with the way the state handles those caught for raping, and what it seems to me is that there is even tacit support for this set of people. A man would be caught raping a small child or woman and all I hear is that he is bailed and you see him walking around. I beg to submit that if the state cannot handle cases of rape effectively, it would encourage recourse to jungle justice. Besides, it might sound rather absurd to state that if the law is too mild on rapists or the government does not know what to do with them, they should be left with families of rape victims to find a way to deal with them.
Salome Akuka, Afikpo
Many FM radio stations and quality programming
There is an interestingly steady growth of the broadcast media, especially FM radio stations across the country, and especially the FCT. But an issue of note is the quality of programmes of some the stations, which have virtually turned themselves into mere phone-in stations, dealing often on trivial issues. It is very common to see that in many of the stations, phone-in programmes dominate the schedules, as well-researched and analytical programmes are not common. In the media, it is said the more the merrier, as many media outlets enhance opportunities for cross-fertilisation of ideas and expression of opinions, but producers of such programmes have a duty of churning out meaningful programmes that could guide society aright, instead of irrelevances as is the case in many stations.
Danny Mokogwu, Apo, Abuja
Growing insecurity acause for concern
When I read of the kidnap of the president’s in-law in Daura on Wednesday night, I became very jittery because the dimension of crime and insecurity in the country is getting rather alarming. These days, travelling from one part of the country to another is terrifying amid the risk of armed robbery and kidnapping or even communal crises. Government should please get back to the drawing board to ensure that sanity returns to the country. Even the villages are not as safe as they were. There should be a concrete and decisive action against this prevailing situation to enable Nigerians live in peace.
Aminu Ahmad, Bauchi
