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| Publisher Food farm news Ayeni Oladehinde |
Mr. Ayeni Oladehinde is the publisher of Food Farm News. He spoke on the economic implication of porous land borders to rice productivity in Nigeria saying Nigeria Customs Services must be up to its responsibilities not to allow smuggling while all the imports should pass through seaport. Read the excerpts of the thirty minutes live economic programme on the Vision FM 92.1 station Abuja.
Sir several strategies had been announced by the federal government to halt rice importation, but yet the foreign rice continue to flood markets in the country, what then is your take on the role of the Nigeria Customs Service in the inability of government to checkmate the importation of foreign rice into the country.
This is a very strategic and good question to the reality of what rice productivity is facing in Nigeria today. Yes, Nigeria Customs Services has a very big role to play in this whole value chain of rice production, because the influx of imported rice could hinder whatever strategy government has put in place towards rice production acceleration. Again before i really answer the question being asked on the role of Customs, let’s look at this scenario, what is the quantity of rice that we are consuming now in Nigeria?
What is our demand and what is the shortfall? By the record from RIFAN, our demand is 7.1 million metric tons there about, and we are producing 5.2 metric tons, so we have a shortfall of 1.8 million metric tons. This means 1.8 million metric tons is in contention to bridge the gap. So how do Nigeria Customs come in with its mandate. The act that established it, mandated overseeing goods that are being imported and exported, and they are to collect tariffs and duties to checkmate those items or goods that are not allowed to enter into the country. So in this context of rice production, yes the importation of rice that we are talking about is through the road not the sea ports, that means, if you want to import rice get license, and there is a tariff that you have to pay, and the moment you pay this you can be allowed to bring in your rice into the country through the sea port. The contention here is that there are lot of influx of some rice that came through our porous land borders, so how does Customs come in to checkmate this, it means that their tentacles must be well spread across our borders in order to checkmate influx of smuggled rice into the country.
Although I may not totally want to say that Customs are not trying, of recent we can see them galvanizing their actions arresting lorries loaded with rice being brought in through all these routes, so on this we can’t totally condemned them. Again, the point is that its mandate is to ensure that goods that are not allowed through the land routes be checked. And on this, they have not done very well, so in this wise we have to let them know that more needs to be done, so that the policy where we spend billions of naira on rice acceleration production is not hindered as the economy will be at stake as many jobs that are supposed to be created here are being created elsewhere.
Some people said they prefer foreign rice to local rice because the local rice produced is not of quality compared to the foreign rice. They complain of stones and other particles that are not found in the foreign rice, making local rice more difficult to purchase, what is your take?
You see there is no doubt about standard, am just trying to say in this interview there are still some people who still say that the local rice is nutritious, but the point is we are talking economy here, we are facing reality of joblessness here and we have a commodity, that we can use to generate jobs, from the ends of the farmers, millers and the marketers. What are we doing to harness it to bolster our economy that is at stake, that is the bone of contention and that is why the issue of smuggling becomes a contentious issue that needs to be discussed and addressed.
Sir several strategies had been announced by the federal government to halt rice importation, but yet the foreign rice continue to flood markets in the country, what then is your take on the role of the Nigeria Customs Service in the inability of government to checkmate the importation of foreign rice into the country.
This is a very strategic and good question to the reality of what rice productivity is facing in Nigeria today. Yes, Nigeria Customs Services has a very big role to play in this whole value chain of rice production, because the influx of imported rice could hinder whatever strategy government has put in place towards rice production acceleration. Again before i really answer the question being asked on the role of Customs, let’s look at this scenario, what is the quantity of rice that we are consuming now in Nigeria?
What is our demand and what is the shortfall? By the record from RIFAN, our demand is 7.1 million metric tons there about, and we are producing 5.2 metric tons, so we have a shortfall of 1.8 million metric tons. This means 1.8 million metric tons is in contention to bridge the gap. So how do Nigeria Customs come in with its mandate. The act that established it, mandated overseeing goods that are being imported and exported, and they are to collect tariffs and duties to checkmate those items or goods that are not allowed to enter into the country. So in this context of rice production, yes the importation of rice that we are talking about is through the road not the sea ports, that means, if you want to import rice get license, and there is a tariff that you have to pay, and the moment you pay this you can be allowed to bring in your rice into the country through the sea port. The contention here is that there are lot of influx of some rice that came through our porous land borders, so how does Customs come in to checkmate this, it means that their tentacles must be well spread across our borders in order to checkmate influx of smuggled rice into the country.
Although I may not totally want to say that Customs are not trying, of recent we can see them galvanizing their actions arresting lorries loaded with rice being brought in through all these routes, so on this we can’t totally condemned them. Again, the point is that its mandate is to ensure that goods that are not allowed through the land routes be checked. And on this, they have not done very well, so in this wise we have to let them know that more needs to be done, so that the policy where we spend billions of naira on rice acceleration production is not hindered as the economy will be at stake as many jobs that are supposed to be created here are being created elsewhere.
Some people said they prefer foreign rice to local rice because the local rice produced is not of quality compared to the foreign rice. They complain of stones and other particles that are not found in the foreign rice, making local rice more difficult to purchase, what is your take?
You see there is no doubt about standard, am just trying to say in this interview there are still some people who still say that the local rice is nutritious, but the point is we are talking economy here, we are facing reality of joblessness here and we have a commodity, that we can use to generate jobs, from the ends of the farmers, millers and the marketers. What are we doing to harness it to bolster our economy that is at stake, that is the bone of contention and that is why the issue of smuggling becomes a contentious issue that needs to be discussed and addressed.
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