Renewed smuggling threatens 13 million jobs in Nigeria – Association

The Director-General of the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), Mr Andy Ekwelem says renewed foreign rice smuggling into the country is threatening thirteen million jobs in the rice value chain.

Mr Ekwelem, who disclosed this at a news conference held in Abuja, the nation’s capital warned that if not checked, the gains already recorded in the N3.4 trillion investments in rice processing sub-sector of the economy may be eroded

He said imported rice has flooded Nigerian markets despite the ban imposed on the product by the government to encourage local production and self-sufficiency.

He, therefore, called for the criminalization of the possession and sale of foreign rice in the country, adding that renewed fortification of our borders by the customs and other security agencies would go a long way in checking the rising trend.

It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had in December 2020, directed the re-opening of the four land borders that were closed in 2019.

PIAK/PRNigeria