SPEAKER HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
AGAINST RICE IMPORTATION
The
Speaker of the, Nigerian House of Representatives, Dimeji
Bankole, says the House does not believe the importation of rice
is the appropriate solution to the food crisis in the country.
Answering questions from the
business community in Lagos, Bankole noted that the crisis was
not peculiar to Nigeria as it was a global phenomenon and that
importation of rice, rather than solve the crisis, would only
kill local rice growers in the country.
Bankole however commended the
eleven thousand metric tonnes of grains to be released by the
federal government to the public, describing it as a medium term
intervention.
The Speaker disclosed that the
House committee on Agriculture last week summoned the Minister
of Agriculture to explain the efforts of the ministry on food
security and said the House would soon hold a stakeholders'
forum on food security in the country to discuss the way
forward.
Bankole said the crisis was
beyond the executive arm, adding that, that was why the House
recently passed a motion intervening in the crisis.
He said the house was looking for
a way to have subsidy on agricultural produce as well as ensure
that fertilizer got to the end users in good time.
Meanwhile, an NGO, Abuja
Discussion Forum in the Federal Capital Territory has faulted
the federal government's plan to import five hundred thousand
metric tonnes of rice.
A statement by its Chairman,
Alhaji Musa Abdu, stated that the rice importation, to gulp
eighty billion naira, would not adequately address the impending
food crises.
It stated that food items such as
wheat for the production of bread, and maize for the production
of livestock feed, left out on the planned importation list were
equally important in addressing the situation.
Considering the fact that the
global food crises might not end soon, the forum advised the
government to take long term measures to enhance the nation's
food security and called for massive provision of other food
items, in addition to rice, particularly during the months of
June, July and August.
Another long term measure, the
statement noted, was the urgent provision of inputs and
necessary support to farmers, which he said would encourage and
enhance food production to make the nation less dependant on
food importation, the statement added.
