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FG to
ban rice import from 2006, says Ogbeh
By Don Bassey
Correspondent,
Abuja
Abuja
has reiterated its desire to ban rice importation at the end of 2006 to
create some 18 million new jobs for the youth, most of whom are currently in
the labour market.
Presidential
Special Adviser on Agriculture Audu Ogbeh, who disclosed this, also said the
government would not go back on the ban on the importation of frozen chicken,
done eight months back, as the country has the ability to meet its poultry
needs.
Ogbe
is also National Chairman of the ruling People�s Democratic Party (PDP). He
spoke while commissioning a 100-hectare farm to mark the first 100 days in
office of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) Chairman Zephaniah Jisalo.
He
linked Nigeria�s �zero production� status to wrong advice from international
agencies and insisted that the only way to create jobs for the approximately
800,000 youths who graduate from tertiary institutions � 63 universities, 36
polytechnics and 48 colleges of education � every year is to ban the
importation of products that could be produced locally.
The
number will rise when the 20 new universities being planned by the government
begin to turn out graduates.
Nigeria
currently imports three million tonnes (or 33, 000 trailer-loads) of rice
yearly, thereby denying millions of citizens the means of making a decent
living.
Said
Ogbe: �By 2006, we shall stop the importation of rice because currently we
import three million tonnes of rice every year. I�m talking of 33, 000 trailer-loads
of rice every year into Nigeria. That will create jobs for 18 million people
in this country � 18 million farmers, millers and distributors. We must stop
that by 2006 so that 18 million people in our villages and in our factories
can have something to do and earn a living�.
Earlier,
Jisalo explained that projects already handled in his 100 days in office
included a primary school, a 16.6-kilometre access road and a culvert, all
designed to improve the living conditions of the rural population.
He
listed education, health, environment, agriculture and provision of social
infrastructure as the priorities of his administration.
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