The Lagos State government has assured residents of the state of the availability of Eko Rice, a product of the Lagos Rice Mill in Imota, this yuletide season and for those who are willing to buy, to visit any of the major rice markets in the state. Some of the notable markets include Daleko in Mushin, Iddo, Ketu, Ikorodu, and Sura, among others. The Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor, Oluwarotimi Fashola, while speaking with newsmen during a tour of the mill located on 8.5 hectares of land in the Imota area of Ikorodu, noted that over 20,000 bags have been released to the market before Christmas, as another set of 20,000 would be released into the market thereafter.
Fashola, who led newsmen to witness operations around the mill, explained that the state do not sell the rice directly, but that the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) are the ones responsible for the sales. “We do not sell rice directly, we are in partnership with the LCFE. They are the owners of our rice. Let me put it that way because the partnership we have with them is that they pay suppliers of the paddy and the distributors of the head rice equally pays to them. You cannot buy outside commodities exchange, the partnership is such that they are the only ones that sell the rice”.
On pricing, he explained that the LCFE determines the prices based on the cost of the paddy, stressing that currently, the price is between N43,000 and N45,000 for a 50kg bag and N22,000 for that 25kg bag from the Rice Mill in Imota and that logistics price is not added. Fashola also stated that residents of the state can purchase the rice through the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE), stating that residents of the state needed to manage their expectations in the area of seeing the rice flooding the markets. “We need to manage our expectations in the area of seeing the rice everywhere in the market. Let us understand something; Lagos is the largest consumer of rice in Nigeria. It consumes 40 million bags of 50kg rice annually.
“On a daily basis, we have about 25 million people and each person consumes on a yearly basis about 50kg. So, we can start breaking it down to what a person consumes in a year. We produce just 10 per cent of what Lagos consumes. We are hoping to go to 20 per cent, but right now, we produce 10 per cent. If you look at that in proportion to the state, you can see that we can only do as much and that is why we are saying that you go to these markets to get it. You cannot go to every corner shop and get Eko Rice, it is the reality you can go to designated places and buy. We cannot flood all markets in Lagos for now. We will improve distribution as time goes on, but that is what the situation is right now”.
