The old line in the mid-80s was a-rice o compatriots! Then essential commodities, most notably, rice was so scarce that each time Nigerians heard the word rise, in any conversation, speech or even the national anthem, they would come to attention, if only to find out the next location for the rationed sale of rice.
There was a famous cartoon in one national newspaper of that era, which depicted guests apparently at a seminar snoring away even as the speaker pranced and puffed, presenting his speech. The great moment came when the speaker said: “In conclusion, all these would give rise…” and pronto, the snoozing audience came alive exclaiming: “Rice? Did he just say rice?! Where?!”
Today, Nigeria’s rice conundrum has shifted another gear and downhill it seems to throttle. Two grievous incidents happened last week to buttress this point.
Inside Government House, Borno State, Northeast of Nigeria, there was a near-fatal shootout as policemen and soldiers struggled over control of bags of rice meant for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Also in Borno, some officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were apprehended attempting to re-bag rice meant for IDPs with a view to diverting them.
But all these would be mild drama compared to the event last Sunday at Singer Market, Fagge Local Government Area of Kano State. A man identified as Mallam Yusuf Bala procured a bag of rice from Alhaji Suleiman Bagudu, a rice dealer in the market and reportedly left his five-year-old son at the rice dealer’s. He had promised to dash home for some more money to make payment. He never returned for his boy.
When he was traced to his residence, he confessed he was impoverished, thus had to devise such a means to find sustenance for his family. This trick is not novel by any means. A woman had played it out quite successfully in Akure, Ondo State recently.
With the strictures at the land borders to curb rice importation and attendant massive smuggling, it has become apparent that Nigeria, the giant of Africa boasting of a population of over 170 million, can hardly produce one tenth of her most important staple food. The prices of the imported commodity have continued to skyrocket, almost jumping out of the reach of the common man. A 50 kg bag, which sold for a little below N10, 000 about a year ago, has almost double, depending on the city you are.
One worries that so much hoopla has been made about local production of rice; in fact, the last government had claimed it was going to achieve local sufficiency by 2015. Yet hardly can local rice be found in any significant quantity in any part of the country. So much for diversification of the economy, food security and the rediscovery of Nigeria’s rice belt, which had been the buzz phrases in the past few years?
We knew about crude oil swap deals; now we have rice for child swaps; what next?
