No, Nigeria Need not Spend $700 Million on Thailand Rice!

On May 9, 2008 / By Imnakoya / In Africa, Nigeria, Uganda / 4 Comments

More on rice - Nigeria’s staple food.

During this global food crisis, particularly rice scarcity, Nigeria could have been in better situation if it had been able to back policy statements with honest action.

Check this out:

In 2004, Ondo state governor signed MOUs with China and Thailand on rice cultivation in the state. An excerpt of the report by Dayo Johnson in Vanguard in 2004:

GOVERNMENT of Ondo State has signed a memorandum of understanding with Thailand and China for the establishment of rice processing and cassava factories. The projects are estimated to cost over 60million dollars. They are fallouts of the recent business trip of Governor Olusegun Agagu to the two countries. Source

This week Nigeria announced it will spend some 700 million USD (80 billion naira) for some half million ton of rice. Soure: Thailand.

The government spokes person announcing the deal was the same Ondo state governor Agagu. He said:

“Thailand is supporting a rice producing group (Stallion Group) in large scale rice production in Nigeria because this is one of the medium term solutions that are to be put in place immediately in order to make sure that in the next one, two or three years, we would have got to certain level of sustainability on rice as a commodity, taking into consideration our heavy dependency on it.”

I wonder what happened to the $60 million-rice-MOU Agagu signed with Thailand in 2004? How many other states spoke about starting rice plantations and have failed to deliver?

About the same time Ondo state signed its MOU with Thailand, Uganda embarked on a similar project - today the country’s rice output has risen 2½ times!

Rice production is expected to reach an astonishing 180,000 metric tons this year, up from 135,000 in 2006 and 102,000 in 2005. Consumption of imported rice, meanwhile, fell by half from 2004 to 2005 alone, and by half again from 2005 to 2007.

Why is it tough in Nigeria to ‘breath life’ into ideas - like the cultivation of locally grown rice? Is this too difficult to accomplish?

When will Nigerian administrators stop making empty policy statements and taking ‘knee-jerk measures’, and start being truthful with information and socially responsible in action?

Blogosphere…

On December 29, 2006 / By Imnakoya / In Africa, America, Blogosphere, Ethiopia, Governance, Hibiscus Project, Nigeria, Somalia, Uganda / 8 Comments

Some Happenings in my Neck of the Woods:

What is America agenda in Somalia? Peace? Fight terrorism? Strategic relevance?

“Washington backed the warlords in their losing battle against the Islamists. And it tacitly approved Ethiopia’s military intervention to support the TFG. It has even been passing aerial surveillance reports to Addis Ababa, according to US news reports. Preoccupied with the spectre of Islamic terrorism, the White House is thus party to an attempt by a repressive regime in Ethiopia to replace a popular de facto government in Somalia with a widely reviled official one. It is a dangerous gamble.”

Check Ethan Zuckerman’s …My heart’s in Accra for some insight.

Is Uganda Africa’s Newest Investment Darling?

“In the African context, if we are talking about recent economic growth amidst large hurdles, it is difficult to disregard Uganda. This is a country that has endured some major trials and has slowly over time edged it’s way back into a period of sustained economic growth. Does this make Uganda a role model for other developing economies wishing to grow foreign direct investment?”

Benin “Mwangi” on Business News from Africa has the facts

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