When the Federal Government slammed a total ban on the importation of rice into the country, it was with the good intention to diversify the economy and be self-sufficient in food production.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in an address ahead of the pronouncement on rice, told Nigerians to brace up to the new challenges of eating locally-produced rice which, he said, was more nutritious than the foreign ones.
“We have to get used to discipline and direction in economic management. The days of business as usual are numbered. Two years ago, I appealed to people to go back to the farm. I am highly gratified that agriculture has picked up, contributing to the government’s effort to restructure the economy. Rice imports will stop this year. Local rice, is fresher and more nutritious, will be on our dishes from now on,” he said.
However, it is surprising to observe that despite the President’s pronouncement, rice-smuggling has intensified, resulting in deaths and injuries between customs officials and rice smugglers.
It is against this backdrop that the Federal Government on January 31, 2018, approved N1.12 billion for the purchase of 50 operational “anti-rice smuggling” vehicles to check the persistent smuggling of the product into the country.
Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, told State House correspondents alongside the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Kayode Fayemi, after a meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on January 31, 2018, that the procurement of the operational vehicles, which would be deployed to the anti-rice smuggling task force, was also meant to stop Customs officials from invading markets to seize smuggled rice and harassing traders.
“The approval was for the purchase of 50 vehicles and they are going to be deployed for an anti-rice smuggling task force that is being put together, which Customs will be leading.
“As you know, our efforts to become major rice producers have resulted to the revival of local rice growing. But what we found was that there was 90 per cent reduction in the official import of rice; smuggling has increased and, of course, our borders are very porous.
“We believe that to protect our farmers and the investments the people have made, government must act to stem the tide of illegal rice importation through smuggling.
“We felt that it is important; we don’t want Customs going to seize rice in the markets. Customs should act to stop rice coming in at the border posts and Customs indicated that it needs additional vehicles, additional resources as well as other more information-driven strategies to stop it,’’ she said.
The vehicles will also stem the tide of persistent fracas between the overzealous Customs officers who harass drivers on the highway. Most of the harassment has led to avoidable injuries and death.
The most recent of such incidents was the one in Ogun State where a bus driver conveying some bags of smuggled rice was accosted and in the process a pregnant woman was shot. The pregnant woman was hit by the bullet shell of Customs officers who shot in the air to disperse a mob. The incident, which happened at Ota, Ogun State, left the woman, identified as Mrs. Ogunlana, hospitalised.
According to an eyewitness, Ogunlana Bukola, the eight months pregnant woman became a victim when Customs officers shot in the air to disperse a mob trying to prevent them from arresting a suspected “Tokunbo” car driver.
Mrs. Ogunlana, who was said to be a staff of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) was hit by the bullet shell on the upper shoulder.
Speaking on the incident, the Customs Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘A’ Lagos spokesman, Jerry Attah, said the woman is alive and is doing fine.
“I know people’s reaction is as a result of the Abule Egba incident,” Attah said. “They are not happy and that is why they want to use the incident against us by peddling rumours that the woman was shot dead,” he said.
On the reported death of the smuggler, Attah said that on January 17, 2018, operatives of the Federal Operations Unit, acting on a tip-off traced one LT Bus loaded with unspecified number of bags of smuggled foreign parboiled rice from Sango area and eventually stopped at Abule Egba.
“Before he was finally halted at Abule Egba, the driver started shouting and making inciting comments that attracted mob action against the officers with different dangerous weapons such as broken bottles, stones and cutlasses. Obviously, he (the driver) had driven to where he could get his associates to help attack the Customs officers. Given the support of the mob, he resisted lawful arrest and the other armed operatives fired shots in the air to disperse the raging mob but to no avail. As a responsible organisation, the officers retreated to avoid any casualty,” he said.
Attah said that contrary to reports of the death of the driver, there was no loss of life in the fracas.
Recall that in 2016, the Federal Government restricted the importation of rice to the seaports and forced importers of the commodity to source their foreign exchange outside the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) window.
This encouraged the local production of rice to the extent that Lagos and Kebbi state governments and industrialists embarked on massive rice production.
While restricting the ban to seaports, Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), said the Federal Government has approved the reversal of an earlier policy in October 2015 which allowed rice imports through the land borders, once appropriate duty and charges were paid. At a review session held with comptrollers of border commands and Federal Operations Units in Abuja, the service noted that dwindling revenue from rice imports through the land borders did not match the volume of rice landed in ports of neighbouring countries.
“Rather, reports from border commands indicated an upsurge in the tempo of rice smuggling. Implementation of the restriction order got off to a smooth start, with a high level of compliance in October 2015. However, revenue started dwindling from January 2016, with importers blaming access to forex as major impediment. During the five-month period when the importation was allowed, October 2015 to March 17, 2016, a total of 24.992 metric tonnes of rice valued at N2,335,131,093 were imported through the land borders. During the period, a total revenue generated amounted to N1,685,112,810, which is considerably lower than the revenue projected to be generated with the removal of import restrictions.
However, an upsurge in the number of seizures has been reported across land borders since January 2016. In the first two months of 2016, a total of 9,238 bags were seized, with Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N64,666,000 made by the Customs’ anti-smuggling patrol teams of federal operations and border commands,” he said.
The Comptroller General of Customs, however, noted that his officers and men could not be totally exonerated from the abuse associated with the implementation of the order on rice, saying his office had been inundated with reports of collusion between them and rice importers.
Ever since the Federal Government put a seal on the importation of the commodity, experts have been speaking of the implication on the economy, the consuming public and the security of the borders and seaports.
A university don, Prof. Badeyi Sani of Bayero University, Kano, posited that there will be a drastic reduction of import bill as well as less pressure on foreign exchange demand for importation of the product. He also predicted a boost in the production of rice because investors will now shift focus from the importation of rice to the production of the commodity.
Although there will be an immediate increase in the price of both the already imported rice and the locally-produced rice, as many people embrace local production, the price will drop.
While hailing the development, a development economist, Mr. Odilim Enwegbara, said, in addition to banning rice, the president should equally ban the importation of other items like meat, fish and other consumables.
“It is a good development. Why we don’t invest is because it is cheaper to import than produce. Now, if you discover that you can no longer import, you relocate your industry to Nigeria. That means creating more jobs. Let the president ban fish and meat also,” he said.
However, Enwegbara said that in the meantime, the price of the commodity will rise and pressure on foreign exchange will drop while jobs will be created. “It is a form of industrialisation. So, it is a good move. In the mean time, it might be expensive but when more people go into local production, the price will crash,” he said.
But for the Co-ordinator of Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Dr. Patrick Chukwu, the advisers of the president are not doing him good because rice importation will never cease – either through smuggling or through other dubious means. This is because there is hunger in the country and the local producers cannot feed Lagos State not to talk of Nigeria.
According to him, Nigeria has seasons and rice cannot grow during harmattan season but rice consumption is throughout the year. “The president is making millionaires out of smugglers because the business of smuggling will be intensified just like other contraband commodities. Even in America, they import different species of rice. They still import rice from China and other countries,” he said.
The freight forwarder and importer asked: “Which rice grower will invest in rice production under the ravaging herdsmen activities?” He opined that the president will soon lift the ban on rice because the policy will encourage more kidnappings, robberies and other crimes. Many Nigerians, he noted, still prefer foreign rice because the local rice takes long to cook.
“I have not seen a president that will just wake up one morning to ban things without consulting the stakeholders,” he said.
Comments
Post a Comment