Eat Nigerian Rice, Create Jobs for the Youths - Maku

The Honourable Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku has called on Nigerians to show patriotism in the emerging rice revolution in the country and eat Nigerian Rice to develop the country and provide jobs for her youth.

Mr. Labaran Maku who inspected of Ebony rice Mill in Ikwo expressed delight on the activities of Ebony rice mill especially on how it has been able to come up with Nigerian rice devoid of stones and smell.

Briefing the National Good Governance Tour (NGGT) team, Chief Executive of Ebony Agro Industries Engr. Charles Ugwu said the company has been able to produce Nigerian rice based on its partnership with the Federal Government through the Public-Private-partnership (PPP) arrangement. 

Through the PPP initiative of the Federal Government, Engr. Ugwu revealed that Ebony Rice Mill has benefited from the N550 Million loan Rice Intervention Scheme with a four percent interest rate.

He also informed the team of a bigger rice mill which his company is working on in Adani, Enugu State which is expected to be operational before the end of the year 2013. Under the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme of the Federal Government run by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he said the company has received a credit line of N1.2 Billion to buy paddy at 7% interest rate (compared to the normal interest rate of 18%).

The tremendous support of the Federal Government, according to Engr. Ugwu has greatly assisted his company, as the company could conveniently finance the stock and sustain the out-growers.

The government assistance, he continued, has also enabled Ebony Rice Mill produce Nigerian rice which could match the quality of any imported rice and could compete with any in the world.

In his response, the Minister said, “the new policy of government in agriculture is business driven which explain why the Rice Intervention Fund is given at four percent interest rate to rice millers”. 

He said it was a deliberate effort of government to ensure that Nigeria is self-sufficient in rice production, as it planned to ban importation of rice by 2015.

Mr. Maku assured Nigerians that under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government has a programme that is different from any agriculture programmes in the past, and that in less than one year the result has been manifest.

The Minister referred to the Ebony Rice Mill as an example of Public Private Partnership (PPP) efforts of the Federal Government and he called on other investors to make use of the PPP arrangement and develop the Agricultural Sector and other Sectors of the economy.

Mr. Maku also called the attention of the Media to the success of the government’s Public-Private Partnership initiative and the one digit interest rate on Agriculture loan as a morale booster which Engr. Ugwu accessed to increase his company working capital.

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