Keep the borders closed, we can produce enough rice to feed Nigerians - Rice farmers

Seun Adeyeye 21:08 - 29 October 2019

A farmer works with rice sprouts on a farm in Dabua, Bauchi, Nigeria used to illustrate the story. Picture taken March 2, 2017. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

Gombe state chapter of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has said that the closure of Nigeria’s land borders is a right step taken, as it will boost local production.

The state secretary of RIFAN, Kalagar Lubo, said the rain in October will increase the yield of rice farmers to meet local need.

Kalagar, on Tuesday, October 29, 2019 said the border closure is a positive development towards promoting fresh locally made rice to feed the country.

“With the extension of rains to the end of October, the yield will be good. The home production is very good, first it is fresh and the value is good. If the border is opened the farmer will not have it good. When you buy a bag at N10,000, it will cost you just N20,000 for two bags. When you go to the market, a bag of foreign rice is sold at N18,000,” he said.

He also claimed that Nigerians who complain about the border closure are those with a penchant for foreign products, adding that rice produced in the country are freshly consumed unlike foreign rice which spend a lot of time before arriving in the country.

“Nigerians for who they are, or human nature for what it is, people have a taste for what comes from outside. Local rice is fresh, unlike foreign rice that spends years before coming to your homes. At RIFAN, once we attain self-sufficiency, then we export our local rice to other parts of the world,” he said.

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“Naturally borders are supposed to be monitored, for those going in and out. It has been so relaxed that goods and people come in. Now that the border has been closed we have multiple benefits, security wise, weapons can not be smuggled easily, people will be checked and contraband can’t come in. Because people are not used to it, they will react negatively but with time people will get used to it.”

Pulse understands that Nigeria’s land borders have been closed by the Federal Government since August for the purpose of checking smuggling.

However, the comptroller-general of the Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali said it generated N115 billion in September, the highest so far since the closure of the country’s borders.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) “supports’’ Nigeria’s closure of its land borders because it understands the action is not punitive.