While the euphoria that greeted the
sale and distribution of the Lagos/Kebbi Rice initiative begins to wind
down, one will not forget in a hurry, the news of the Memorandum of
Understanding which was recently consummated between the two
aforementioned states on the production and marketing of this
fast-growing Nigeria’s most staple food – rice.
Needless dabbling into the nitty gritty
of the agreement. It is pertinent to point out here that the consuming
public was kept longer than necessary while the speculation lasted,
concerning the delivery date, modalities and pricing and name. Not much
was done to bring things to the public knowledge until a few days
preceding the Christmas and New Year period when the true picture began
to crystallise.
At the end, decision was taken by the
state government to the effect of distributing the commodity across
designated centres, mainly at local government areas.
There is no doubt that the delay might
have been occasioned by certain logistics such as adoption of
appropriate name for the product, channel of distribution, pricing among
others.
Before the final decision, feelers had
brandished different names such as Ambode Rice, Laskeb Rice, etc,
ostensibly to reflect the nomenclature and mutual interest of the states
involved in the collaboration, until the name ‘Lake Rice’ eventually
emerged. On the lips of many Lagosians, let there be rice! It does not
matter in whatever name, but enough of the commodity to go round to
desiring citizens.
It is important to equally note that at
the unveiling ceremony, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, in his magnanimity,
further crashed the price from the speculated N13,000 to N12,000.
Frankly speaking, the governor deserves
encomium for blazing the trail in this arrangement, no matter the
shortcomings. Those within Lagos State may not appreciate what it took
an average Nigerian outside the state to procure a bag of rice during
the last festive period, in terms of psychological stress and cost.
While I may stop at that, it is also instructive to appeal to the
Federal Government to take a leaf from the Lagos example, in order to
ameliorate the excruciating pains and hunger ravaging the suffering
masses.
In short, with the position of Lagos
State as a mini-Nigeria, the Federal Government owes a lot of gratitude
to the state for making the Yuletide period worth the while for some of
its inhabitants, notwithstanding that I have neither seen a grain of the
said Lake Rice, (except in the press) nor encountered anyone who can
attest to its quality. This is against the backdrop that it is needless
for residents of major rural communities to embark on the rice
adventure beyond their catchment areas, since it would have amounted to a
futility. For instance, any prospective buyer coming from the
adjourning towns of Ijagemo, in the Iba LCDA to and fro Ijegun – Ikotun
would have spent not less than N6,000 to convey the rice from the
closest selling point in any of the urban areas.
It therefore, made no sense to go and queue for it
No comments:
Post a Comment