By Aideloje Ojo
Minna
Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, has commissioned a rice processing and milling plant constructed at that cost of $1.8m in Bida area of the state.
Bello commissioned the plant yesterday explaining that it will turn out 1.5 metric tonnes per hour.
He said that the plant was financed by the government of Korea with a counterpart fund from Niger state government.
The governor lamented the freighting of essential farm produce to neighbouring countries for monetary gains at the expense of the masses, saying the act was capable of undermining national food security.
He noted that the bumper harvest recorded this last farming season was a product of a deliberate policy of All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration at the national and state levels to re-position agriculture as the mainstay of the economy and to ensure national food security.
The governor cautioned that efforts by government may be threatened “if we produce so much and our people cannot get the food to buy at reasonable price.”
He observed that the bumper harvest recorded this year had not translated to fall in prices of food items as a result of alleged activities of “some individuals who for monetary gains are ferrying food items for sale in neighboring countries.”
The governor commended the government and people of Korea for financing the rice processing plant, stressing that the siting of the mill in the state was a fulfilment of his resolve to explore all avenues to attract investors and projects to the state, especially through Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives.
He directed the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure proper management of the rice mill by engaging competent firm to manage the facility.
Earlier, the Korean ambassador, Mr. Noh Kyu-Duk, said his country gesture was informed by Nigeria’s huge potentials, comparative advantage of cultivating rice and becoming self-sufficient.
