President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday opened a 32-metric tonne per hour Lagos Rice Mill in Imota, Ikorodu, a Lagos suburb, to boost Nigeria’s rice revolution.
The Lagos Rice Mill, Imota is a two x 16 metric tonnes per hour mill on an 8.5-hectare piece of land.
The project requires around 240,000 metric tonnes of paddy per year to generate 2.5 million bags of 50kg of rice.
Buhari, who arrived at Imota around 5:30 p.m., was accompanied by Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Sen. Tokunbo Abiru, Mr Colinious Ojelabi, Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State, and Mr Ganiyu Solomon, Chairman, APC Presidential Campaign Committee, Lagos.
Ms Abisola Olusanya, Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Rotimi Fashola, Special Adviser to the Governor on Rice Initiative, NiDCOM chairman, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and traditional rulers Jimi Benson and Oba Gbolahan Lawal were among those that accompanied the president.
The president unveiled the rice and watched a quick demonstration of how it is manufactured and packaged.
Sanwo-Olu stated at the occasion that Lagos is ready to assist Buhari’s rice revolution.
The Lagos Imota Rice Mill, he claims, is part of President Muhammadu Buhari’s agricultural revolution.
“When he started his government, he says Nigeria must grow what they eat and they should eat what they grow.
“We are happy that Lagos is the testament for that. With 2.8 million bags of 50kg rice per annum, Lagos is ready to support rice and food revolution in Nigeria.
“The units rice mill will create close to 250,000 direct and indirect jobs. We want to thank the local communities of Imota in Ikorodu. We thank you all for waiting patiently.
“Mr President is indeed excited that we have started another first in Nigeria and in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
Olusanya, who also spoke, emphasised the mill’s ability to supply high-quality rice to the people of Lagos at a price they can afford.
Rotima Fashola added that the facility will use state-of-the-art digital, automated, and robotic machinery to wash, boil, dry, sort, haul, polish, and bag the rice from start to finish.
Dr. Femi Oke, Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Lagos State and the South-West Zone, offered praise for the state government’s initiative.
Farmer support for the mill will continue, according to Oke.
Chairman of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria in Lagos State, Mr. Raphael Hunsa, believes the new rice mill would spur increased rice production in the state.
Hunsa encouraged the state government to keep giving farmers tools so that they could grow more rice and feed the mill.
“This project is very wonderful, it is a thing of joy to us as rice farmers in Lagos. I am happy that such a thing is happening in Lagos,” he said.
There were many dignitaries there, including representatives from the state government, traditional rulers, and members of AFAN, the Ogbonge Women Farmers Association, the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, and students from secondary schools across Nigeria.
