Expect made-in-Ogoja rice by December – Ayade

• Expect made-in-Ogoja rice by December – Ayade

Cross River State Governor, Sen. Ben Ayade, has said that the ultra-modern rice mill currently under construction in Ogoja Local Government Area of the state will roll out its first wholly bagged rice by the end of December 2017.

Ayade was quoted in a statement as saying this shortly on arrival from his overseas trip on Tuesday.

He said, “Part of my trip itinerary was to inspect the manufacturing process of the rice mill which is the most sophisticated and digitalised facility you can ever find. It is the latest technology in rice processing in the world today.”

“Payment has already been made and we are awaiting delivery by end of October while installation will commence as soon as the equipment arrives. Hopefully, Cross River State will have its own home grown, milled and ready for consumption rice by December.”

The governor added, “I agree with President, Muhammadu Buhari that we must think agriculture which is now yielding positive fruits across the country.

“Our major focus is on agriculture, solid minerals and to a lesser extent oil and gas. In Cross River State we had seen this coming which was why we set up food bank, cotton cultivation with the focus to support our garment factory as a strategy for backward integration. We must find any means to earn money other than oil and gas.”