To commemorate the launch of the sale of 30,000 metric tonnes of milled rice, the Federal Government has announced that only individuals possessing valid National Identity Numbers (NINs) will be capable of making purchases.
At the flag-off, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari represented President Bola Tinubu, who stated that the action was taken to stop racketeering and bring down food costs in Nigerian markets.
Kyari stated that there will be a rigorous “one man to one bag or one woman to one bag” sales policy for the intervention.
According to him, the rice is a subsidised milled rice sale initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria, intended to alleviate the current food problems in the country. It would be sold for a fixed price of ₦40,000 naira every 50kg.
“This food intervention can be said to be timely considering the times and challenges we are in as citizens of this great nation.
“As one of the numerous efforts of the present administration to cushion the effect of high cost of food commodities, kindly join me to applaud the immense efforts of the present administration such as the release of 42,000MT of Assorted Food Commodities (AFC) to vulnerable and the 30,000MT of milled rice which is being flagged-off for sales to Nigerians today 5th September, 2024.”
The Minister attributed the rising cost of food prices to COVID-19, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, climate change, and other regional issues.
“This has led to increased concern and risk of food insecurity and general decline in the standard of living globally. I therefore urge us to understand that the present challenges are not peculiar to our great country,” he said.
He continued by saying that the Federal Government has deployed a multidisciplinary government machinery and put in place specific procedures and requirements to ensure the transparency, wider reach, and success of this exercise.
The Federal Government is cognisant of the potential challenges associated with the sales of an important staple like rice during this crucial period.
“This includes one man one 50kg of rice, others are the verification of intending beneficiaries using relevant identification mediums such as the National Identification Number (NIN) and phone numbers to forestall multiple access to this food commodity by fraudulent individuals at the detriment of other citizens,” he stated.
In order to fulfil the proposal, he pleaded with citizens to work along with the pertinent citizens.
“Let us work together to ensure that the dream of the present administration to uphold the fundamental right to food for all Nigerians is achieved. It is expected that with the injection of 30,000MT (1000 trucks of 30MT each of these important staples into Nigeria’s food balance sheet, it will not only crash the price of rice but also other closer food substitutes and alternatives.”
He urged Nigerians to support the President with patience and steadfastness, saying that his many initiatives to improve food security will soon start to show results.
The process for purchasing the rice that is subsidised was explained by Haruna Sule Abutu, the ministry’s director of food and strategic reserves.
“To qualify for the one person one bag, you must have National Identification Number, of course you have phone numbers and those in public service are all registered under the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) platform.
“Once you have any of these three, at the point of sale, with the NIN logged into the system, a code number and a Treasury receipt will be generated, and with that the buyer can get to the collection center and pick up his bag. The receipt will indicate time and point of collection to eliminate stampede.”
