Bag of rice available for N8,000 in Ebonyi – CBN
Central Bank of Nigeria in Yenagoa on Tuesday announced that a 50kg bag of Nigerian rice is selling in Ebonyi for N8,000, as opposed to the N22,000 an imported bag of rice costs.
This was made known by Mr Isaac Okoroafor, the Acting Director, Corporate Communication, CBN, while speaking at a sensitization workshop for the CBN Anchor programme for farmers in Bayelsa State.
He said: “We should eat Nigerian rice provided for by the CBN Anchor Programme; 50 Kg of local rice is now N8, 000 in Ebonyi. Already, the Abia Government has ordered rice from Ebonyi for Christmas.”
He added that the Anchor Borrowers Programme for the promotion of Agriculture has set the country in good stead to begin exportation of rice by 2017.
According to him, farmers in Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Sokoto and Cross River states, among others, have entered for the programme, which has subsequently led to enormous produce.
He encouraged the enthusiasm to be maintained as it was key to the country achieving self-sustenance.
Okorafor revealed that Kebbi State had already harvested one million tons of rice, adding that Ebonyi’s harvest had surpassed the anticipated output for the year.
“The development is encouraging and by the end of 2017, we will not only meet our national demand which is between six and seven million tons but have surplus to export,” he said.
“We must rid ourselves of eating foreign rice that has been stored for over nine years in Thailand, Vietnam and India. Nigerian rice is fresh and healthier.
“What we have done with this programme so far is to create jobs through farming, especially for the unemployed youths.
“Nigerian youths must wake up, dust themselves up and join this worthy campaign.
“Remember that the status of our farmers is now better due to the support they are receiving as a result of government’s policy. Our currency is weak because we engaged in needless importation of all kinds of food stuffs, including tooth picks; the government is determined to stop this.”
The Branch Controller, CBN, Yenagoa, Mr. Oke Nwajah, said the state was blessed with rich wet soil that encouraged rice cultivation.
He implored the farmers to take pride in farming, assuring that the Anchor Borrowers Programme was an intervention to reduce their burden.
