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Following massive rush to buy rice for Yuletide and New Year celebrations, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and also repackaging Nigerian rice as foreign to desist from the act in the interest of the  economy. Taiwo Hassan reports

Already, the hierarchy of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) led by Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), had raised the alarm over existence of expired rice in circulation.

Ali, who made this known when the customs destroyed containers of foreign rice smuggled into the country recently, warned that Nigerians were eating expired rice without knowing.

The comptroller-general blamed importers of the commodity for not saying the truth on the state of what was being imported into the country.

He, however, applauded the country’s border closure policy of the Federal Government, saying that the closure would benefit the nation in future.

However, despite the attempt to take the minds of Nigerians away from foreign rice consumption, it was learnt that the preference is still outweighing that of local rice as investigations carried out by this newspaper showed that Nigerians are desperately looking for foreign rice to buy for Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Amid this mass rush for foreign rice by Nigerians, there are insinuations that business owners involved in the country’s rice value chain are now secretly bagging local rice with foreign labels and also jerking up the price tag following Nigerians preference for foreign commodity.

In fact, the fallout of rice conversion from local to foreign ones is mind blowing.

Why foreign rice patronage

Recently, a survey on the rice market across the six geo-political zones in the country by the Economic Confidential team observed that foreign rice such as Mama Gold, Royal Stallion, Rice Master, Caprice, Falcon Rice and Basmati were sold alongside Nigerian rice such as Umza and Fursa Crown from Kano, Mama Happy from Niger, Labana Rice from Kebbi, Olam Rice from Nasarawa, Abakaliki Rice from Ebonyi, Ofada Rice from Ogun State, Swomen Dama from Plateau, Lake Rice of Lagos/Kebbi States among others.

The reason for the sale can be attributed to the fact that the desire for Nigerian rice is still low, thereby raising doubt as to Nigerians’ preferences for local rice.

Stakeholders in the rice sub-sector, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) and Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN) had given kudos to the Central Bank of Nigeria for the timely intervention and banning of rice import into the country since 2015 without issuing of Form M, a development that has seen growth in local production, thereby saving foreign exchange for the country.

On-the-spot checks by the magazine showed that the preponderance of foreign rice in these markets by merchants who said that profits coming from foreign rice far out-weigh the local rice which majority of those interviewed believed has more nutritional value than the foreign rice.

However, what cannot be fathomed is why still preference for foreign rice by Nigerians despite the border closure, ban and aggressive local production of rice milling?

Locally fabricated rice de-stoner machine

Speaking on the changes that need to embrace by local millers to bring sanity to the country’s rice value chain, an agriculture expert, Mrs. Bridget Obi, charged the three tiers of government to embrace and adopt the locally fabricated rice de-stoner innovation machine to boost local rice production in Nigeria.

Obi, also the former Commissioner for Women Affairs and Youths Development in Anambra State, disclosed this at the unveiling ceremony of three agricultural devices by the Nigerian Association of Technologists in Engineering (NATE) in Oshodi, Lagos recently.

According to her, the agricultural devices were: scale down rice de-stoner,castor oil de-husking machine and automated mains failure device.

Obi pointed out that these rice machines would ensure accelerated production and reduces drudgery, especially in the processing of agricultural produces in the country.

“We don’t need to import rice again. The Federal Government should support various institutions to help in driving technology that will help our nation to achieve our agricultural goals. “Without technology, we can do nothing; it helps to save cost, manpower and man hour,” she added.

She said local rice production should henceforth be encouraged with the devices to assist in addressing the major challenge of local rice.

“With huge amount released by CBN toward increasing rice production, the NATE scale down rice de-stoner will increase mass production of quality rice to ensure availability in the farming communities. “I urge governments to give necessary assistance in ensuring mass production of the machines at subsidised rate.

“They should be made available to farmers at a very low interest rate with long term repayment plan,” Obi said.

NAFDAC’s warning

However, NAFDAC has read the riot act warning business owners involved in sharp practices of revalidating expired rice and repackaging local rice as foreign to desist from the act.

The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Christiana Adeyeye, in a statement made available to New Telegraph recently, called on Nigerians to be vigilant, and exercise discretion when purchasing rice and other food items.

“NAFDAC is fully alive to her responsibilities of assuring the safety, wholesomeness and quality of foods and other regulated products offered for sale to the public,” she noted.

She said the Ogun State office of NAFDAC received a report from the Department of State Services (DSS) in the state of ongoing food fraud at Oke-Aje market in Ijebu Ode

“We, in company of men of the Nigeria Police Force proceeded to the scene of the illegal activity. On arrival, the suspected perpetrators of the food fraud instigated unnamed persons to unleash mayhem on the team of investigators

“However, enforcement officers of the agency and its Federal Task Force team stormed the market in company of DSS officials. They sighted miscreants at the market who took to their heels.

“Bags of expired rice, caked rice, bags of local rice, bags of popular foreign rice and sealing machines were found in the shops the NAFDAC enforcement team finally gained access into.

“Three shops were sealed during the operation. It is instructive to note that expired and caked rice are unwholesome as they contain moulds and microorganism that cause diseases which are of immense public health concern,” she added.

She called on Nigerians to report cases of re-bagging and sale of caked and expired rice or other food items to the nearest NAFDAC office across the federation.

Last line

With this disturbing report of re-bagging, sale of caked, expired rice or other food items in the country, it has shown that government needs to do more in its monitoring activities by extending its searchlight beyond borders as perpetrators are ready to make more gains on Nigerians through re-bagging of Nigerian rice as foreign ones.