Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has raised alarm that Nigerians are consuming expired rice meant for animals. He blamed the development on smuggling pointing out that if the affected rice had been put under scrutiny they would have failed NAFDAC test because most of them have been on the shelf more than six years and had expired.
“The rice being imported now are not fit for consumption in their countries of origin. They are also being subsidised and sent here even in credit because those people know that they are unfit for consumption; they are only fit for animals. Imported rice are mostly smuggled into the country because they cannot pass NAFDAC test. No Nigerian rice is more than one year old but the imported ones have spent even six years in their countries”, he said. The minister however promised that Nigeria will become self-sufficient in rice production in the next one and half years given the commitment of the administration to agriculture.
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