By Muhammed Shaeed
September 6th, 2024
The Federal Government has stated that only those with duly registered National Identification Numbers (NIN) will be allowed to purchase as it flags off the sale of 30,000 metric tonnes of milled rice.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari who represented President Bola Tinubu at the flag-off said the move was to curb racketeering and crash the prices of food in Nigerian markets.
“This food intervention can be said to be timely considering the times and challenges we are in as citizens of this great nation.
“As one of the numerous efforts of the present administration to cushion the effect of the high cost of food commodities, kindly join me in applauding the immense efforts of the present administration such as the release of 42,000MT of Assorted Food Commodities (AFC) to vulnerable and the 30,000MT of milled rice which is being flagged-off for sales to Nigerians today 5th September 2024,” he said.
The Minister blamed COVID-19, the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change amidst other localised factors/challenges for the high cost of food prices.
“This has led to increased concern and risk of food insecurity and general decline in the standard of living globally. I therefore urge us to understand that the present challenges are not peculiar to our great country,” he said.
He also stated that the governments deployed a multi-disciplinary machinery of Government, as well put in place certain processes and conditions to ensure the transparency, wider reach and success of this exercise.
“This includes one man one 50kg of rice, others are the verification of intending beneficiaries using relevant identification mediums such as the National Identification Number (NIN) and phone numbers to forestall multiple access to this food commodity by fraudulent individuals at the detriment of other citizens,” he said.
He implored citizens to cooperate with the relevant citizens to achieve the initiative.
“Let us work together to ensure that the dream of the present administration to uphold the fundamental right to food for all Nigerians is achieved. It is expected that with the injection of 30,000MT (1000 trucks of 30MT each of these important staples into Nigeria’s food balance sheet, it will not only crash the price of rice but also other closer food substitutes and alternatives.”