Photo Illustration: Bags Of Rice 

The Federal Government has commenced the sale of 30, 000 metric tonnes of milled rice to Nigerians at subsidised rate of N40,000 per 50 kilograme bag.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, inaugurated the sale of the subsidised milled rice on Thursday in Abuja.

He said the exercise would be carried out across the country.

Mr Kyari said the rice intervention was timely due to the times and current challenges in the country.

“This food intervention can be said to be timely considering the times and challenges we are in as citizens of this great nation.

“It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this historical, all-important and long-awaited inauguration of the sales of 30,000MT of Federal Government milled rice to Nigerians at a subsidised rate of N40,000 per 50 kilogramme.

“This kind gesture was made possible at the expense and directives of President Bola Tinubu, who does not want Nigerians citizens to go to bed hungry; and in his wisdom deemed, it important to initiate this food intervention.”

Mr Kyari said that the aftermath of COVID-19, Russian-Ukraine war, the climate change amidst other localised factors and challenges, food prices and food chains were distorted globally.

According to him, Nigeria is not an exception.

He said that the Federal Government was aware of the potential challenges associated with the sales of an important staple such as rice, at this critical period.

Mr Kyari said that a multi-disciplinary machinery of government had been deployed to ensure the transparency, wider reach and success of the exercise.

The minister said the processes to purchase the rice included one person to one 50kg bag of rice.

Mr Kyari also spoke on the verification process.

He said that intending beneficiaries would be verified using relevant identification mediums such as the National Identification Number, NIN, and phone numbers to forestall multiple accesses to the commodity by fraudulent individuals at the detriment of other citizens.

“In view of the above, I urge our dear citizens to cooperate with the relevant agencies of government who will try to serve you to achieve this great initiative of government.

“It is expected that with the injection 30,000MT (1000 trucks of 30MT each of this important staple into Nigeria food balance sheet.

“It will not only crash the price of rice but also other closer food substitutes and alternatives,” he said.

In a goodwill message, the Minister of State for FCT, Dr Mariya Bunkure, said the event was an important day to enhance the wellbeing of Nigerians.

She said that the 30,000 metric tonnes of rice embodied federal government efforts to ensure food security.

Speaking to newsmen, Dr Haruna Sule, Director Strategic Grains Reserve, Ministry of Agriculture, said civil servants could access the grains from the point of sale with their Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and NIN.

Mr Sule said that Nigerians could use their NlN only to access the rice.

“Once you have any of these three, you present it to the sales operators and it is logged on the platform that has been created.

“After this, you proceed to pay electronically with your ATM; once the payment is done, it is linked to the initial sales operator and it shows that you have paid; then a receipt will be issued with a code number.

“With this code number, you will be issued with a treasury receipt to show you have paid to government.

“Then, you are given a receipt which shows point of collection and time of collection; this is to eliminate any form of stampede.

“The point of collection is different from the point of sales and when you get to the collection point, you present your code to our officials and you will be given a bag of rice.

“We intend to have about five to six sales points across Abuja and the duration of the distribution will be for the period they are able to finish sales,” he said.

Mr Sule said that the exercise would be carried out across the country.
– NAN

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