Stakeholders Hail Ban On Rice Importation Through Land Borders

Rice farmers, processors and dealers on Wednesday lauded the Federal Government’s decision to ban importation of rice through land borders.

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the decision was a welcome development and in the right direction to move the nation’s economy forward.

The stakeholders said that the decision was timely because it came around the planting period and would encourage the farmers to embark on large-scale farming.

NAN reports that Federal Government recently banned importation of rice through the land borders to stem smuggling, loss of revenue and encourage local production.

The Olofa of Offa, Oba Mufutau Gbadamosi, who is also President of Rice Millers, Importers and Distributors Association of Nigeria (RiMIDAN), said that the decision was an answer to the association’s prayer.

“The decision is a welcome development and a positive response to the association’s call for a ban on importation of the commodity through the land borders,” he said.

The monarch said that the development had shown that President Goodluck Jonathan was a listening leader and willing to impact positively on the lives of the citizens.

He said that the decision would reduce smuggling of the commodity and increase revenue generation, local production and employment generation.

The RiMIDAN president said that the association had already sent a letter of appreciation to the President for his ideas and efforts to revamp the nation’s ailing industries.

According to him, the ban will also encourage foreign and local investors to establish linkage industries.

Mr. Duro Kuteyi, Vice Chairman, National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), said that the ban was long overdue, adding that it should be properly implemented so as to derive maximum benefits.

Kuteyi urged the Federal Government to sanction custom officers that failed to enforce the ban in their zone.

He said that government should ensure that stakeholders had easy access to the N100 billion stimulus package earmarked for the sector to fast track development of the sector.

Mr. Ola Adebayo, an executive of RiMIDAN in the South West, urged the government to back the ban with the provision of hybrid seedlings, fertiliser, crop protection and herbicides to boost local production.

He said that the country had the potential to produce rice in two cropping seasons and meet local demand.

“The bane of the rice sector has always been smuggling. With the government’s decision to ban importation of rice through land borders, we will flood the market with local rice,” Adebayo said.

According to him, many farmers and processors ran away from the stimulus package because they thought it will be difficult to repay in view of the large scale smuggling.

NAN reports that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had initiated the establishment of 17 local mills across the country to boost local rice production and stem importation of rice.