Nigeria Consumes N1.2bn Worth of Rice Daily — RIFAN

• Nigeria Consumes N1.2bn Worth of Rice Daily — RIFAN

Nigeria consumes a minimum of N1.2bn worth of rice every day, the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria stated on Wednesday.

RIFAN said its findings also showed that virtually all rice consumed across the country were cultivated and processed locally.

The association’s National President, Aminu Goronyo, disclosed this at RIFAN’s office in Abuja while refuting the claims in an advertorial that was made against the organisation and the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said, “No single naira was converted to the dollar to take to China, India, Thailand or anywhere else to bring rice into Nigeria for Nigerians to consume since 2015.”

“All the rice we eat are grown and processed locally and that has been the case for a good four years. So foreign rice has never entered Nigeria through the deliberate plan against importation by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to help those of us who farm this rice.”

Goronyo added, “And let me tell you, every blessed day, Nigeria consumes a minimum of N1.2bn worth of rice. This happens every day. So if there is no deliberate effort to grow production, where are we going to get this rice?”

He stated that the CBN and the Federal Government had succeeded in blocking the importation of rice into Nigeria.

“So this means that the CBN has succeeded in stopping people from taking our money to other countries to create jobs in those nations at the expense of millions of Nigerians who do not have jobs.”

On the allegations in the publication, Goronyo said RIFAN had nothing to do with the person who placed the advertorial in the newspaper.