[News] : Price of rice crashes as Nigerians approach festive season

– CBN’s representative, Mrs Nkechi Osuji, has hailed a programme recently launched by the federal government for the recent crash in price of rice – Local rice now reportedly costs N13,000 for a 50kg bag – Mrs Nkechi encouraged more states to join the scheme to enable more reduction in price of local rice Nigerians can now heave a sigh of relief after reports confirmed that the price of local rice in the country has crashed in some states across the federation. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quotes the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as saying the agricultural initiative ‘Anchor Borrowers Programme’ which the federal government launched recently, is responsible for the drastic change in prices.

Making this remark on Saturday, November 19 in Imo state was Mrs Nkechi Osuji, the head of CBN’s development financing department at a sensitisation workshop attended by local government representatives of small holder farmers, cooperative societies, youths and women groups drawn from the 27 local government areas of Imo. According to her, a 50kg bag of local rice can now be bought for N13,000 in states where the scheme has been embraced. She also added that the more the states that join, the cheaper the products in the market.

The CBN representative also encouraged participants to take the programme seriously as it has the potential of providing over one thousand jobs for unemployed youths and graduates.

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“Let there be no ghost farmers and unnecessary bureaucracy in the implementation of the programme in Imo. “If this programme is genuinely executed, a lot of jobs and wealth will be created in Imo,” she was quoted to have said. Meanwhile, reports indicate that China produces fake rice which is mixed with plastic for exportation to African countries including Nigeria. China has a history of making fake food items and the fake rice phenomenon has been there for a while. A reputable English-language newspaper in Korea, The Korea Times, reported that “China famous for having all, making all, has now been reported to have made rice out of plastic and has distributed it.”