Lagos state Governor, Akinwumni
Ambode has said locally produced Eko
Rice is expected to hit the market in the next six months.
The governor who disclosed this on
Tuesday when he visited the Imota Rice
Processing Factory in Ikorodu Division,
assured that the facility will be
overhauled and be up and running
within the next six months.
He said the intention of his
administration was to intervene and
upgrade the facility to a standard that will achieve a 10,000 metric tonnes per hour production of rice and also invite private investors to complement the intervention with an additional 10,000 metric tonnes per hour.
“That is the only way we can be clearly
said to have intervened seriously and
that is the only platform we can use to
allow the inflow of rice paddy from
Kebbi State.
You will all recall that we
just signed an MoU with Kebbi State and
the intention is that we want a
consistent flow of raw materials to come
so that the era of importing rice from
abroad would become a thing of the
past,
He said aside Kebbi State, Lagos was
also looking at possible partnership
with other states, saying that on the
long run, such collaboration will ensure
that residents can consume locally
processed rice within the next six
months.
The Governor said that a process to
make the mill private sector driven will
commence immediately, adding that a
vibrant infrastructure that will attract
the best professionals and experts to
manage the facility would be put in
place.
“This is a major investment and we
cannot allow it to rot away. So in the
next three to six months, when we
come back here, we must be eating Eko
Rice,” he said.
