FG backs ban on foreign rice in Ebonyi

The Federal Government says it is in support of the ban on the sale of foreign rice in Ebonyi State.

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State had banned the sale of imported rice in the state, saying that this was to encourage local production of the commodity. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe, who spoke when he visited Ettem Amagu Rice Farm in Ikwo Local Government Area, said the Federal Government was in support of the ban on sale of foreign rice in the state. Ogbeh was on an assessment tour of the rice farm in a bid to ascertain the agricultural potentials of the state.

The minister was accompanied by the Chair-man, Presidential Committee on Rice Production, Abubakar Bagudu and the Central Bank  of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele. He commended Umahi for his agricultural policy, which has ensured massive production of rice in the state. He said: “Governor, I hear you banned the sale of foreign rice in your state; God bless you for it “I also hear you invited young men to come back from Lagos and work here. God bless you also for it. They will be happier here in this state than living under the bridge or substandard accommo-dations in Lagos and Abuja.”

VANGUARD