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| Imported Rice in Nigeria |
While
Mohammadu Buhari aimed at the Presidency of the Nigerian federation, he pledged
jobs to millions of job-seeking Nigerians among other things. The agricultural
sector was one of the multiple areas the eventual president was looking at.
Rice
production is extremely critical to the creation of jobs in the agro subsector. Nigeria imported about 3 million tons of rice
in the 2013-14 period. Between 2012 and 2015, about N474 billion was spent on
rice importation, translating to an average revenue lost of N118.5 billion,
annually.
The
recent fall in the value of the naira threw to the fore the harm rice
importation causes the Nigerian nation. It is good that this is happening very
early in the life of the new administration. The administration, in an effort
to discourage the importation of goods that Nigeria produces or can produce,
has made the dollar scarce to the importers of such goods. This has led to the
scarcity of the dollar and the rise in its value in the unofficial market. The
end result is the 50% rise in the price of imported rice.
Rather
than allowing the Central Bank of Nigeria to loosing up channels of dollar
sourcing for the affected importers, Buhari has, in keeping with his vow to
create jobs, insisted with sarcasm that “if you think you cannot eat local
rice, then it is up to you to source for the dollar wherever you can and use it
to buy the foreign rice that you so much cherish.”
The
question is: why do Nigerians find it difficult to eat their own rice, despite
knowing the huge harm the practice causes our economy? The answer is not far:
Local rice is badly processed. The outcomes are the stones and bits of unsorted
chaff that makes local rice unattractive, despite its high taste. People don’t
want to eat rice and crush stones as they do so. In addition, there are bits of
chaff that must inevitably find their way into the pot. Nigerians don’t like
their weird texture in the mouth. The
species of rice grown in Nigeria are a spectrum. There are some, whose grains
dissolve and fuse into a huge starchy mass after boiling. Nigerians, like other
nationals, prefer rice whose grains remain independent even after boiling.
Here,
the eating of high quality rice is associated with status. Every Nigerian loves
status and wouldn’t want to be left behind. It is the reason why Nigerians have
developed shock drains that ensure they adjust to a price increase each time it
occurs. There is also that thing about time being a healer. This means that, in
time, Nigerians would always get over the economic pains that price increases
bring.
Wise
speakers often say that problems are not solved by ignoring them. Consequently,
halting rice importation and taking back rice-sector jobs from Asian nations
would, no doubt, require the nation to stand up and act as against our attitude
of just sitting and expecting things to just get cooked. The Asians, who export
the rice we consumed, don’t just sit. They stand up and act.
Most
rice farmers in Nigeria are uneducated and process their rice using crude, and
rigorous means handed down to them by unschooled traditions. They need to be
told that the inferior processing methods lead to the stones and detritus that
make their product unappealing. They need to be told the role they can play
towards ending rice importation, and be educated and assisted on how they can
play this role adequately. They also need to be told about the annual N118.5
billion that should be theirs, but which are lost to their Asian counterparts,
and that they can earn this money if importation is successfully halted. Buhari
and his team must also identify unpopular species of rice and encourage farmers
to end their cultivation. In working to end importation, we must integrate the
support for researches towards improving the quality of rice that is produced
in the country.
Problems
are not solved by ignoring them. Nigeria, stand up.
