• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
Saturday, July 12, 2025
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Reporters At Large
  • Home
  • News
    • World
    • For The Record
    • Metro
    • Opinion
    • Press Releases
  • Business
    • Auto Trend
  • Politics
  • Tourism
  • Lifestyle
    • People & Events
    • Health
  • RAL TV
    • Video
    • Video News
  • More
    • Advertisement
    • Privacy
    • Disclaimer
    • Contact Us
  • Home
  • News
    • World
    • For The Record
    • Metro
    • Opinion
    • Press Releases
  • Business
    • Auto Trend
  • Politics
  • Tourism
  • Lifestyle
    • People & Events
    • Health
  • RAL TV
    • Video
    • Video News
  • More
    • Advertisement
    • Privacy
    • Disclaimer
    • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
Reporters At Large
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Democracy Day: FG Threatens To Shut Land Borders Over Rice Smuggling

by ReportersAtLarge
May 29, 2017
in Featured, News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
audu-ogbeh

Chief Audu Ogbe

Share on WhatsappShare on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin

THE Federal Government has threatened to shut some land borders if the smuggling of rice continues from neighbouring countries.

Chief Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, gave the warning on Monday while speaking to newsmen on some of the Federal Government’s achievements in the agriculture sector in the last two years in Abuja.

Ogbeh said the decision had become necessary to encourage local rice farmers and to enable the country achieve self sufficiency in rice by 2018.

“We believe they are determined to sabotage the efforts that we are making to guarantee self sufficiency in rice and to save foreign exchange which we don’t have.

“They insist on bringing in rice through the land borders, avoiding the duties and the levies we put on them and they are definitely bent on sabotaging our efforts and we are getting increasingly unhappy with them.

RelatedPosts

Obasanjo And NNPCL: A Prophet In The Oil Wilderness?

Ibadan Discourse Group Commemorates Adekunle Fajuyi, Calls For Value-Based Leadership

Villa Rat Invasion Story Fabricated As A Distraction From Buhari’s Health Issues — Garba Shehu

“And I must say that very soon, if they persist, we will take very nasty measures against them.

“We will like to advise our neighbours, who believe that the ECOWAS treaty means that Nigeria is a volunteer nation for economic suicide.

“We have no such plans, destroying our own economy to make any neighbour happy. “The ECOWAS treaty number two does not suggest that any country can be an avenue of smuggling foreign goods not produced in that country for dumping in his neighbours territory.

“If they insist, I do not think that government is far away from considering permanently closing certain borders very near us and when we do, nothing will make us change our minds on the issue, ECOWAS treaty or not,” Ogbeh warned.

The minister said that the importation of rice reduced from 580,000 tonnes in 2015 to 58,000 tonnes by 2016.

According to him, by the end of this year, we will eliminate the difference because more people are growing rice in the country.

He said the Federal Government would distribute no fewer than 200 rice mills to millers across the states of the federation to encourage fresh milling of locally produced rice in order to make them more palatable than the imported ones.

Ogbeh said the move would save about five million dollars for the country daily when achieved.

According to the minister, about three months ago, there was this cry about Nigeria going to starve and we told them that there will be such thing.

“We have never produced as much grains as we did in the last two years in this country’s’ history.

“We have fed not only Nigeria, we have fed West Africa and there are still thousands of tonnes in people’s warehouses.

“Those who bought grains and stored believing that starvation was near and they will make a killing they are now begging us to take off the grains from them because they are getting stock. “The only shortfall we have is maize because of the disease called the armyworm.

“We are dealing with that and this planting season, we are going to support farmers to make sure that we bring that disease under control.

“We have done amazing things in agriculture in two years, we are still going,” Ogbeh said.

The minister said the government was working toward achieving self sufficiency in staples within the next two years excluding wheat.

He said that government’s ambition was that in five to six years from now, Nigeria should be able to earn between N10 to N30 billion from exportation of agricultural produce annually to service the country’s debts and build a robust foreign reserves.

Tags: AbujaDemocracy DayLand BoardersRiceRice Importation
SendShare1TweetShare
ReportersAtLarge

ReportersAtLarge

Reporters At Large is the world’s fastest-growing online news platform and public service broadcaster. We’re impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in Nigeria and around the world.

More

Olusegun Obasanjo on Coalition Candidate
Opinion

Obasanjo And NNPCL: A Prophet In The Oil Wilderness?

by ReportersAtLarge
July 12, 2025
0

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has always had strong opinions about Nigeria’s oil sector, and none stronger than his damning verdict...

Read moreDetails
News

Ibadan Discourse Group Commemorates Adekunle Fajuyi, Calls For Value-Based Leadership

by ReportersAtLarge
July 11, 2025
0

The Ibadan Discourse Group (IDG) recently held a national discourse in honour of the late Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi, a...

Read moreDetails
Mallam Garba Shehu
News

Villa Rat Invasion Story Fabricated As A Distraction From Buhari’s Health Issues — Garba Shehu

by ReportersAtLarge
July 11, 2025
0

The Former Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu, has revealed that the story about...

Read moreDetails
Load More

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Khafi and Gedoni

BBNaija Host, Ebuka Other Ex-Housemates React To Khafi-Gedoni Engagement

6 years ago
kemi adeosun

NYSC Investigates Finance Minister’s Fake Exemption Certificate

7 years ago

Popular News

  • Senator Ademola Adeleke

    Osun PDP Leaders Unanimously Back Governor Adeleke Amid Defection Rumors

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Obasanjo And NNPCL: A Prophet In The Oil Wilderness?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Who’s The Next PDP Governor To Defect To APC: Adeleke or Makinde?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Ibadan Discourse Group Commemorates Adekunle Fajuyi, Calls For Value-Based Leadership

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Villa Rat Invasion Story Fabricated As A Distraction From Buhari’s Health Issues — Garba Shehu

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Connect with us

ADVERTISEMENT

About Us

Reporters At Large is the world’s fastest-growing online news platform and public service broadcaster. We’re impartial and independent, and every day we create distinctive, world-class programmes and content which inform, educate and entertain millions of people in Nigeria and around the world.

With a high level of professionalism, fairness, objectivity, accuracy and speed, we publish Breaking News Nigeria Today Headlines and International news on Politics, Tourism and Travel, Entertainment, Sports, Business Lifestyle and Sports.

Category

  • Auto Trend
  • Breaking Bones
  • Business
  • Columns
  • Entertainment
  • Featured
  • For The Record
  • Health
  • Innovation
  • Lifestyle
  • Metro
  • News
  • Opinion
  • People & Events
  • Politics
  • Press Releases
  • Science & Technology
  • Sponsored
  • Sport
  • Tourism & Culture
  • Video
  • Video News
  • WorldNews

Recent Posts

  • Osun PDP Leaders Unanimously Back Governor Adeleke Amid Defection Rumors July 12, 2025
  • Obasanjo And NNPCL: A Prophet In The Oil Wilderness? July 12, 2025
  • Who’s The Next PDP Governor To Defect To APC: Adeleke or Makinde? July 12, 2025
  • Ibadan Discourse Group Commemorates Adekunle Fajuyi, Calls For Value-Based Leadership July 11, 2025
  • Villa Rat Invasion Story Fabricated As A Distraction From Buhari’s Health Issues — Garba Shehu July 11, 2025
May 2017
SMTWTFS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Apr   Jun »
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Tourism
  • Lifestyle
  • RAL TV
  • More

© 2016-2024 RAL - Guided by professionalism

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • World
    • For The Record
    • Metro
    • Opinion
    • Press Releases
  • Business
    • Auto Trend
  • Politics
  • Tourism
  • Lifestyle
    • People & Events
    • Health
  • RAL TV
    • Video
    • Video News
  • More
    • Advertisement
    • Privacy
    • Disclaimer
    • Contact Us

© 2016-2024 RAL - Guided by professionalism

Verified by MonsterInsights