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Tag: rice

  • CBN to make Nigeria global rice giant

    CBN to make Nigeria global rice giant

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it is determined to make Nigeria one of the largest rice producer and exporter in the world, making her less dependent on petroleum money.

    Speaking with newsmen in Umuahia, the apex bank’s  Acting Director, Corporate Communication, Issac Okoroafor, underlined the preparedness of the CBN to make the dream come true, saying the country’s apex bank is determined to make Nigeria join other countries in the production and exportation of rice, so that there will be food security and more jobs for the teeming youths.

    He said, “This year, we are expecting that we will be self- sufficient in rice production, Nigeria will become a net exporter of rice because we have seen that most families now eat made-in-Nigeria rice.

    “We now eat rice grown fresh in Nigeria not the rice we used to import from India, Vietnam and Thailand, rice that was between seven  to nine years old. Now we are eating farm fresh rice, grown, milled and packaged in Nigeria. You see, we are very proud of Nigerians, because they responded to this”.

    Okoroafor said the Anchor Borrowers programme has been one of the most successful programs in this country, adding that it goes to show that, “when our people think well and we invest well, we can achieve a revolution, which is what Anchor Borrowers programme has achieved. We are continuing with it, we are expanding it.”

    He said the regulator is getting into the next stage of the Anchor Borrowers Program, which is working with commodity associations, (no longer states), pointing out however that the apex bank is still continuing with the state governments.

    “We are opening up a window for commodity associations. We have started with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), we expect to reach 12 million farmers in this program and you can imagine what 12 million farming with at least one hectare of land can produce. You can imagine what that will bring to our economy”.

    Okorafor said the accelerated agricultural development scheme will involve 10 thousand youths at the pilot level, saying the choice of the youths, will be those that will take pride in agriculture, who also at the end of the day, will be well funded to make agriculture big business.

    He said, “We are starting with 360 to 370 youths, including Abuja and we look forward to a few years when we will come up and say, yes, we have made 360 billionaires in agriculture, young people between the ages of 16 and 35, that is our target.

    “They would come up to make this nation proud. So we are collaborating with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on this programme. The details are going to be rolled out very soon. There has been a stakeholders meeting in Abuja and that is our focus  for this year,” he stated.

    Okoroafor said the CBN has spent about N87.5 billion on the Micro, Small and Medium Entreprise Development Fund, which was designed for small business operators, like artisans, vulcanizers, hair dressers and tailors, among others.

    He appealed to youths in Abia and the other Southeast states to key-into the programmes of the CBN, by forming strong cooperatives  to enable them access the available funds without cut-throat collaterals.

  • Ogun invests N4b in rice

    Ogun invests N4b in rice

    The Ogun State Government has invested N4billion to boost rice production.

    Agriculture Commissioner, Mrs Adepeju Adebajo, made this known in a statement.

    She said the government was ready to  develop areas of high-quality rice products, using high technology.

    She said the government is focusing on researching high-quality rice varieties and rice production technical package to reduce production cost, improve rice quality, protecting the environment and ensure sustainable agricultural reforms.

    “This administration is encouraging the restoration of culture and heritage of our people, this include the production of indigenous variety ofada. Hence the government is leaving no stone unturned to promote and improve the production of ofada which has become the State’s brand.

    Moreover, other varieties, such as Nerica 8 and Faro, which are short and long grain are also being promoted. This is to ensure that economic growth plan of the Federal Government of “eating what we grow” is realised in the state.”

    The state, according to her, working with various development partners, such as World Bank through Fadama and International Fund for Agricultural Development Programne (IFAD)-assisted Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP),  boosted rice production.

    “This is apart from the public sector supported intervention which resulted in increasedhectarageunder cultivation. Prior to now, there was not much rice processing mills in the state.

    “Farmers had to travel long distances to access the few that deploy old equipment which hinders quality. The establishment of the processing mills in at least one in each senatorial district will ensure the easy access by farmers, ensure quality assurance and traceability of products, she added.

  • Rice, onion, tomato shortages likely next year, experts warn

    Nigeria may face tomato, rice and onion shortages next year, following the continued shut down of Tiga Dam in Kano State, The Nation has learnt.

    The dam provides irrigation to Hadejia and to areas as far as Nguru and Gashua in Borno and Yobe states.

    Nigeria produces 65 per cent of all the tomatoes in West Africa, with much of it produced in Kano. But more than 45 per cent of it rots away for lack of preservation and processing facilities.

    Consultant to the World Bank, Prof Abel Ogunwale, said the dam has been a major source of water to irrigation sites in Kano State and major farming communities around Kaduna State and the continued shut down of the  dam has put the irrigation system in jeopardy.

    Speaking with The Nation, Ogunwale, an extension specialist, said the suspension of water supply to farmers from the dam would, no doubt, negatively affect farming during the dry season.

    He said the continuous shortage of the dam will affect rice, onion and tomato production.

    Ogunwale explained that farmers that would be operating during the dry season farming will face serious threat.

    He warned that if the authorities failed to quickly address this issue, the aftermath of the suspension would affect farm produce output in the state, especially tomato.

  • Kano Zakkat Commission disburses N20m to needy in 2017

    Kano Zakkat Commission disburses N20m to needy in 2017

    The Kano State Zakkat and Endowment Commission has disbursed N20 million as alms to the needy from January to date.

    The Director General of the commission, Alhaji Safiyanu Gwagwarwa said in Kano on Friday that the money which was collected from the wealthy Muslims in the state, was disbursed to over 250 less-privileged persons across the state.

    “We were able to collect N20 million and same was disbursed to the poorest of the poor in the state.

    “The aim of Zakkat is to support the less-privileged in the society to reduce poverty among them and discourage them from begging,” Gwagwarwa said.

    He said the commission had also distributed 300 bags of maize 100 bags of sorghum and 50 bags of millet within the period under review.

    Read also: ‘Muslims must give priority to education’

    He said the commission had received donation of food items from wealthy Muslims and traders including rice, spaghetti,macaroni, maize and millet which were also distributed to the needy in the state.

    According to him, the commission also awarded scholarship to some indigent students in addition to offsetting medical bills of a number of patients who had no means of paying the bills.

    He enjoined well-to-do Muslims in the state to ensure prompt payment of their zakkat to enable the commission distribute it to the needy to alleviate their sufferings.

    The director-general commended the state government for its continued support to the commission.

    NAN

  • Ogun rice revolution

    Thursday, December, 21 was another red-letter day in Ogun State. In one iconic gesture, unprecedented in the annals of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, the governor of Ogun State, unveiled the MITROS Rice Processing Factory and MITROS Rice.

    Against the backdrop of the role rice plays in the lives of the overwhelming majority of Nigerians and that close to one trillion naira of our money is expended annually on importation of the commodity, one cannot but agree with Amosun that the inauguration of MITROS Rice Mill and MITROS Rice was a “watershed”. This water should now flow over the arable land across the country with rice pyramids levitating in every nook and cranny till the nation achieves zero rice importation.

    Rice is like water in Nigeria. To appropriate the inimitable Fela Anikulapo Kuti, “Raisi, e no get enemy!” (Rice has no enemy). Tell me one house where rice is not a staple food and I will tell you no such home exists in Nigeria. It’s quite possible, but I’m yet to encounter a child who does not like rice. Fried, jollof or white, rice it is for millions of Nigerians!

    How rice became a staple food, attained a larger than life image in our country, is outside the scope of this exercise. It suffices to emphasize that a situation where humongous part of our scarce forex is expended on importation of rice is not sustainable.

    The current Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, once lamented the culture of rice importation: “We cannot afford $5m a day for rice shipments in this country. It has gone on for 40 years. And I assure you that it is our reckless policy of importation that has brought Nigeria down to where she is now. Those who keep talking of imports either do not mean Nigeria well or simply refuse to recognise the fact that we cannot afford the imports.”

    It is even more embarrassing that we import this staple from the strategic reserves of developing countries. Most of the imports are of doubtful nutritional value with some of the grains having been stored for upward of ten years. Why should Nigeria with unemployment problem continue to create millions of jobs for other countries through mindless imports? Why should we continue to put pressure on our foreign exchange by expending two billion dollars ($2 billion) yearly on rice importation? Can’t we eat what we grow? Can’t we grow what we eat? What about the vast hectares of God-given arable land to this country?

    President Muhammadu Buhari would no longer stomach the abnormal situation, hence the setting up of Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) on November 17, 2015 and later Presidential Task Force on Agricultural Commodities and Production. Governor Amosun as well recoils at this gargantuan amount of money used to fund the economies of other nations, hence his commitment to break the jinx and ensure we plant, process and package what we consume.

    According to Amosun, “Our past efforts at tackling poverty in all ramifications will amount to nothing if concerted efforts are not taken to ensure food security to people at all income levels. This is why today is a significant day, not just for Ogun State, but for Nigeria as well. The MITROS Rice Mill, the first of its kind in Ogun State, will create jobs for our farmers. From now on they will no longer need to travel far and wide in search of milling facilities.”

    The MITROS Rice, especially the popular Ofada rice, is of better quality, hygienic and fresh in comparison to imports of contentious nutritional value. The MITROS rice, apart from creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs, costs less than the imported ones and has been bagged for the benefit of every segment of the society – 1kg, 5kg, 10kg, 25kg and 50kg.

    Today, Ogun State joins the proud league of rice-producing states in Nigeria, and MITROS Rice becomes part and parcel of the unfolding story of Nigeria’s rice revolution. The journey of a thousand miles, it is said, begins with a single step. Today, we take that step, confident that the journey ahead of us will yield results and impact our people beyond our most ambitious expectations. We will be keen learners, and strive to get better with each passing day, and each planting season. And, we are extending our hand of partnership to the private sector; we welcome you to take the lead in this agricultural revolution that is unfolding in Ogun State.

    The Amosun administration has now blazed a trail in rice revolution. Big (and small businesses) should now take advantage of the enabling environment created by the current government by investing massively in rice plantation, processing and packaging in Ogun State.

    The Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, said the apex bank would give credit facility to farmers at five per cent interest rate as part of the Muhammadu Buhari government’s strategy to increase food production and self-sufficiency in the country.

    We congratulate Senator Ibikunle Amosun for another feather in his cap. President Muhammadu Buhari deserves all plaudits for walking the talk in agriculture. Things can only get better in Ogun State and Nigeria at large.

    • Soyombo, media aide to the Ogun State Governor, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com
  • Fayemi gives rice to residents

    Fayemi gives rice to residents

    The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, has directed that rice be distributed to residents of Ekiti State to celebrate the Christmas and New Year festivities.

    The distribution, which is being handled by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Executive Committee in conjunction with JKF Centre, started last Saturday afternoon.

    One hundred and seventy seven wards are to get their shares; other consignments are for residents, irrespective of their party affiliations.

    Party leaders, community leaders, trade, religious and women groups were not left out.

    The Director of JKF Centre Mr. Biodun Omoleye said Fayemi, a former governor, is aware of the economic challenges among the people, especially the less-privileged, workers and pensioners, who are being owed.

    He said Fayemi decided to identify with the people to enable them share in the joy of the Yuletide.

    Omoleye said the minister would continue to assist residents in tackling social dislocations in the New Year to mitigate unemployment among youths.

  • Over 12m farmers join rice, wheat revolution, says Buhari

    Over 12m farmers join rice, wheat revolution, says Buhari

    Over 12.2 million farmers have joined the rice and wheat initiative of the Federal Government, President Muhammadu Buhari has said.

    Buhari added that the administration’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which is already a success would gradually move  the country to self-sufficiency in major grains.

    The President spoke at the 25th edition of the Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) Ceremony held in Lagos on Wednesday.

    Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the success of the agric revolution has turned thousands of rice farmers into millionaires and drastically reduced rice importation.

    ‘’Apart from the successes we have achieved in tackling insecurity and fighting corruption, perhaps our most remarkable progress has been in the area of agriculture. Quietly but steadily, our agriculture revolution is bearing fruits.

    ‘’According to the Rice Exporters of Thailand, rice imports from Thailand fell from 644,131 tons in Sept 2015 to 20,000 tons in Sept. 2017, representing a 95 per cent drop,’’Buhari said.

    He noted that self-sufficiency in rice is so important because it is the most widely consumed staple in Nigeria, and also because Nigeria’s daily expenditure on rice for over three decades stood at $5 million.

    The president said Nigeria is also doing well in Millet, Sorghum and Maize cultivation, adding: ‘’We are now the second largest producer of sorghum after the US, the third in millet after India and our breweries are now enjoying local sourcing of those commodities.

    “For maize, we are producing 10 million tons while we need about 13 million tons for both human and animal nutrition.’’

    The President also said Nigeria is world’s leader in yam and cassava production and that efforts are being made to restore and improve on the country’s ranking in cocoa production, where it has fallen from 2nd to 7th position.

    ‘’We are also investing in a new line of tree crops targeting local and foreign end users and we are certain to earn foreign exchange. These are shea butter, palm trees, coconut, mangoes, bananas and plantains, kenaf and sisal hemp, castor and pineapple, among others.

    “Overall, our ambition is that agriculture should rise from 25 per cent to 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) so that we can banish poverty and overcome our economic anxiety,’’ president Buhari said.

    He hailed the NMMA, which he called the preeminent media excellence award, and said the Nigeria media has done well over the years hence it deserves to be celebrated.

  • Achieving rice self-sufficiency by 2018

    One of the promises of this administration which many Nigerians have held on to was that of making Nigeria self-sufficient in the local production of rice by the year 2018.

    The government, which was worried that Nigeria was fast becoming a dumping ground for different types of rice from various parts of the globe, was determined to change the tide.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh in March, said “Nigerians have discovered that Nigerian rice is better than rice from Thailand and Vietnam, which are the largest producers of rice in the world.

    “We are in a rivalry with the two countries for now and we will soon overtake them in rice production and take over the market from them.

    “People in Thailand do not eat parboiled rice but white rice. So, all the parboiled rice they produce is exported to Nigeria. Nigeria is the biggest consumer of imported rice in the world.” he added

    The government then introduced various measures to encourage and boost local rice production while efforts were also made to check influx of foreign rice importation into the country.

    Apart from hoping to save foreign exchange for such rice importation, the government also planned to create jobs opportunities for Nigerian youth through such rice cultivation, packaging, storage, distribution and sales.

    The government, through the processes, specifically aimed to crash the price per bag of rice in the country.

    But few months to the 2018 target year for rice self-sufficiency in Nigeria, many factors are still working against its realization.

    Despite the fact that many Nigerians have gone back to farming including rice production, stopping rice smuggling into the country has remained a major challenge.

    While the product still easily find its way to the Nigerian market through the country’s porous borders, the price of the product has remained relatively high in the last two years.

    Ogbeh last Wednesday hinted that new measures will be taken to check influx of foreign rice into the country in order to achieve government target in rice production.

    He said “The other issue was the question of smuggling. In Mr. President’s speech to the National Assembly yesterday, he gave very strong warning about smugglers who bring in unauthorized commodities through the unauthorized borders into the country.

    “We have to deal with that because, while we are making a great deal of progress in our grains productions, smugglers are busy compromising the success we have achieved.

    “Between September 2015 and now, rice importation through the ports has dropped from 644,131, tones to 20,000 tones in September, this year.

    “This means that by the early part of next year, we can literally say, that we are closed to total self-sufficiency in rice.

    “On the other hand, to the west of Nigeria, rice importation has increased to 1.33 million tones. At the Republic of Benin, they don’t eat parboiled rice but the white rice. So, every grain of rice landing there is heading for Nigeria through illegal smuggling.

    “Some of it also come in through Niger Republic. These are issues we have to deal with because we are creating jobs through our local rice production. There are 12.2 million rice farmers in the country now.” he added

    On specific measures to tackle smuggling, he said “There is an MoU between Nigeria and Republic of Benin, entered into, when former President Obasanjo was in office, that we would work together not to compromise each other,s interest.

    “That MoU has not been implemented fully, so we are going to take it up. Already, the Vice President has been working with the Committee which he heads and he is working with the Minister of Finance, Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service and also the Ministry of Agriculture.”

    Speaking on the price of locally produced rice, he said “I was in the largest mill in the country in Kano two days ago, they were selling rice for N15,000 for 50kg.

    “You know your country very well, there are middlemen who do all kinds of things and I told the millers to increase the number of their distributors because there is no point saying it is N15,000 in their factory when out there, somebody is hoarding.

    “The same thing happened to maize. Some people filled their warehouses with maize and shut the place so that the prices were so high that poultry farmers could not get access to maize in the market.

    “So, people went to import, crash the prices and they started complaining. There is no where rice is selling for N20,000.” he said

    It is hoped that the new moves will be successful as many Nigerians are anxiously waiting to experience and benefit from Nigeria’s self-sufficiency in rice production.

    They also want to see crashing of the prices of the various kilograms sacks of rice and more employment opportunities generated in the agricultural sector.

    Also, they want same treatment extended to other agricultural produce in the country in order to make living  more bearable.

    To many of them, that is the actual signal that will show that Nigeria has truly exited economic recession.

    For now, many are confused and found it difficult to reconcile how Nigeria could be out of economic recession with prices of goods and services still very high.

     

    Buhari and 2018

    Budget presentation 

    Not a few Nigerians were thrilled by the presentation of the 2018 Budget proposal by President Muhammadu Buhari to the joint session of the National Assembly last Tuesday.

    They were mainly thrilled by two things concerning the 2018 Budget proposal presentation.

    The first issue was how President Buhari stood at a stretch for about one hour and seventeen minutes reading the budget speech. For the President to have spent a better part of half of the year on medical vacation in London and the various reports on the social media on his ill health, it beat the imagination of some Nigerians who were shocked that a ‘sick’ man could stand for long.

    After standing for that long during the budget presentation, those in doubts concerning the President’s health before last Tuesday must have come to terms with the reality of the President’s fitness.

    While the President was receiving standing ovation from the lawmakers at the end of the budget presentation in the chamber, his supporters outside were glorifying God for His miracle in the President’s life.

    Others also could not help but attribute the President’s fitness as exhibited last Tuesday to his military training and background.

    The second issue that marvelled some Nigerians about the budget proposal presentation was the effort to return the budget cycle to January – December.

    Even though some Nigerians believed that the focus of the government should be on full implementation of the 2017 Budget as the year runs out, the government for the first time ensured that the 2018 Budget proposal was ready for presentation to the National Assembly by October 2017.

    In the past, budget proposal presentations were often done in December while they were usually passed by the National Assembly between February and May the following year thereby making full budget implementation between January and December difficult to attain.

  • Rice farmer lauds Obasanjo

    Rice farmer lauds Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has received praises for his administration’s agricultural policies during the launch of Okun Rice in Abeokuta, the  Ogun State capital.

    Obasanjo, who was the chief launcher at the event held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), was praised for standing by farmers during his eight-year administration.

    Chairman, Hyst Global Business Limited (producers of Okun Rice), Biodun Onalaja, said but for the ex-president, who stood by him through thick and thin, during his travails, his aspiration of being an entrepreneur would have gone with the winds. “This rice project was made possible by the assistance given by our chief launcher, former President Obasanjo. While in office he had food self-sufficiency for the nation as one of his goals. He assisted us to set up the company while also blazing the trail for people like us as farmers. Here is a person, who not only talks agriculture, but walks the talk of a farmer and agro-entrepreneur,’’he said.

    Onalaja narrated how the 10 hectares of land he acquired in Taraba State for rice planting was overwhelmed by the 2012 River Benue floods and had to be abandoned. He said he had to relocate to Kogi State, where through the help of ex President Obasanjo and the support from former Agric Minister, Akinwunmi Adesina, he was able to secure 1,000 hectares, and two years later, began farming.

    Onalaja also thanked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Firstbank Limited, Unity Bank and Provident Bank for their support to Hyst Global Business.

    He urged the Federal Government to reduce food import, assist farmers with finance, land allocation, clearing, tractor and seedling distribution, among others. Low interest, he canvassed, would encourage more agro-entrepreneur.

    Obasanjo said the event was the celebration of success. Describing agriculture as a difficult area to invest in, he praised Onalaja for his doggedness, persistence and stubbornness in spirit’. “You have gone through the ups and downs. You could have chickened out,’’ Obasanjo said, adding that Onalaja’s determination to succeed pushed him on.

    Obasanjo, who called for sustenance of government policies, said Nigeria has what it takes to be self-sufficient in food production.

  • Senators’ rice gift

    Senators’ rice gift

    Fighting Dino Melaye’s recall with ‘stomach infrastructure’?

    Kogi State has been in the news most often these days for the wrong reasons. With due respect to my friends and senior colleagues from that state, not many of us are still wondering why things are the way they are in Kogi State. As a matter of fact, we are quick to point out that it is because if the state is not being governed by a carpenter, then a tailor is in charge. So, what do you expect? Often, we laugh over this joke.

    But Kogi is not alone in this absurdity. This is a country where the more you look, the less you see. The Abdulrasheed Maina saga that is playing out is a typical example. However it ends will no doubt be interesting. It was in this same country that Nigerians elected a Grade Two teacher as president despite the availability of well educated persons that were also better exposed and cosmopolitan, even in the political party that fielded the teacher. Consider even a state like Ogun, during the first term of Otunba Gbenga Daniel as governor; I learnt there was no single university graduate in the house of assembly. Then Ekiti; which is supposed to be the bastion of learning in the country, with its numerous professors, being led by an Ayo Fayose, whose only electoral joker is ‘stomach infrastructure’ which fascinated the highly educated Ekiti people. Fayose today is dreaming of becoming president (although a usually reliable but unconfirmed source said all he wants is the country’s vice presidency)! But, who, in all honesty, can say Fayose is not entitled to this, given the shenanigans that characterise our politics?

    Beyond the national boundaries, is it not puzzling that a man like Jacob Zuma, with his innumerable harem is the one leading a country that the great Nelson Mandela once led? Or a Donald Trump leading the once- upon-a-United States of America? No one would be shocked seeing either Zuma or Trump donating bags of rice the way some of our senators last week donated 1,280 bags to civil servants in Kogi State who have been without salaries for between two and 20 months, and expecting that the people should clap for them for the milk of human kindness flowing in their veins.

    By the way, how much is a bag of rice, probably about N14,000 for the imported brands. That is about N18million in all. That is chicken change to our lawmakers in the National Assembly, reputed to be about the highest paid in the world. If this claim is true, though, it means Nigeria too has something to showcase in The Guinness Book of Records. Our country is not only about the bad and the ugly; we also have some of the highest paid legislators the world can boast of.

    Without doubt, Kogi State workers, like any other person in their circumstance, pummelled to the ground and without any self esteem whatsoever, might have appreciated the gesture by our kind-hearted senators, the point is; we keep having a repeat of such cynical gifts because of the level of deprivation that the average Nigerian has been subjected to by its rulers and their (Nigerians’) minimalist disposition to such subversive generosity. At the base of it all are ignorance and its twin brother, illiteracy.

    Indeed, when I first read the story on Thursday, I wondered the kind of reaction that would trail the donation. But the first, most surprisingly, came from Kogi State, a thing which made me so happy. The state chapter of the National Youth Council (NYC)  rightly saw it as Greek gift. The body said Thursday that it was an insult to the civil servants in particular and the state at large. Its chairman, Oladele Nihi, said: “We see these actions and reactions of the senators as unguided and a desperate move to toil with the collective sensibility of the people of Kogi State and not only the civil servants. It is being orchestrated by primordial instincts, to paint Kogi in dark light, for cheap and selfish political gains. It is an insult on us.” Nihi is not done yet: “Kogi might be feeling the brunt of the economic crisis that is currently bedeviling the whole country, but, that does not mean a group of people with inordinate ambition should sit in Abuja and paint Kogi like a Somalia of (some) sort”.

    The situation could not have been better described, especially with the rice gifts spearheaded by the controversial Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West. In fact, Melaye had told journalists at a press briefing to announce the donation that: “Today, I drew the attention of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to the plight of civil servants in my native Kogi State following the recent disturbing reports of deaths by suicide and inability to pay medical bills by some workers. I’m happy to report to you that my colleagues in the Senate have immediately responded by donating bags of rice and other essential items to the workers in order to cushion the biting effects of non-payment of their salaries by the Kogi State government (emphasis mine). The donation, which amounted to 1,280 bags of rice as of today, and others that will follow later, will be handed over to the Kogi State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress for onward distribution to the most vulnerable workers who need immediate assistance.”

    Indeed, Melaye, the one I love referring to as  the ‘Ajekun iya exponent’ since he released that evergreen album, as usual, went theatrical by kneeling down during plenary Wednesday to beg his colleagues to salvage the ‘dying’ Kogi workers.

    One needed no binoculars to see the mischief in the statement and the gesture. Without necessarily gloating over it, nonpayment of salaries is not peculiar to Kogi State.  We have had instances of workers taking their plight to God in prayers after all else had failed. We have had many other instances of people committing suicide, etc. outside Kogi State. So, how could Senator Melaye have given the impression that non-payment of salaries is peculiar to Kogi? If there is no mischief here, how come the senators have not done the same in other states with similar problems?

    Without doubt, a worker not only deserves his wages, he should be paid before his sweat dries. But we all know how we came to this sorry pass where state governments cannot pay their workers, even after collecting bailouts and Paris Club refunds from the Federal Government. Those who have been clamouring for a return to federalism (I don’t know what ‘true federalism’ means because to me, you are either practicing federalism or you are not) have a point here; we need to return to that past when every component part of the country would move at its own pace and generate its own revenue.

    Anyway, as I usually say in matters like this, Kogi workers (if that is what the senators want to hear) are for now grate… for what the senators have done. But the workers can only add the ful (to complete it –  grateful) when the Senators do the rightful with their bogus pay, free some of it to take care of Kogi workers and other Nigerians who are in dire need of succour in these perilous times.

    But nothing I have said should make Governor Yahaya Bello of the state count me as one of his admirers. I have my reservations about his style and policies. One only found it compelling today to situate our senators’ generosity in context. It may be Governor Bello’s turn sometime later.

    However, in the lighter mood, I know that His Excellency will always swear that he knew nothing about the plot to recall Melaye, but I have a feeling the matter will definitely resurface now, and with vengeance. The matter has stayed too long at the foundation stage. It is time for it to move to advanced stage. Senator Melaye has sent a rat after the governor. What is wrong in the governor sending a snake after him?  After all, as some people say, do me I do you, God no dey vex.

    All said, now that our senators have given the workers rice, where do they get the other things to go with it – groundnut oil, pepper, turkey, chicken, fish, etc? Perhaps these should form the plank of deliberations at their next plenary. These other items and many more goodies should be accommodated in the next tranche to make the 1,280 bags of rice meaningful, full and final for the ‘dying’ workers.

    Man cannot live by rice alone.