Admin l Sunday, December 24, 2017
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Lagos State Government said it has sold over 70,000 bags of LAKE Rice during the ongoing yuletide sales at its various approved designated sales centres and distributors’ outlets.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Food Security, Mr. Ganiyu Sanni who disclosed this over the weekend when he led top officials of the Ministry of Agriculture on a monitoring tour of designated sales centres and distributors’ outlets noted that there is more than enough quantity of LAKE Rice readily available for sales at designated sales centres and in the open market stressing that the product is doing pretty well in the market.
“With the decentralisation of sales of the Lake Rice to open market distributors, residents of the State are assured of a seamless purchase of our product at approved price in Dalako, Iddo, Mile 12, Oke-odo and other major markets including existing designated centres”, he said.
The Special adviser opined that the decentralisation of sales of the product to include open market distributors confirms and demonstrates the much talked about government of inclusion that present administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode promised residents of the State stressing that there is no other better way to demonstrate it other than making food available to Lagoisians at affordable prices without any hitch or rancour.
Sanni explained that the essence of the inspection tour of designated sales centres and distributors’ outlets is to observe activities at the outlets with a view to ensuring that government directives and agreement recently signed with major distributors on sales of the product are carried out.
Said he “His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode has directed a monitoring team to go visit all the sales outlets including the distributors to observe and enforce compliance on rules guiding the sales of the product and that is exactly what we are trying to activate. I have been to some of the sales outlets and I can assure you that sales is ongoing and consumers are conducting themselves orderly to get the product”.
Speaking in the same vein, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Olayiwole Onasanya stated that the State government aside co-opting open market distributors on sales LAKE Rice is also partnering with super markets and high earn markets on distribution of the product so that residents can have a feel of Lake rice.
He disclosed that the ultimate goal of government with the production and sale of LAKE Rice is to stop the importation of rice and ensure that the home grown rice gets to nooks and crannies of Lagos.
Said he, “Lagos State is in the forefront of effort geared towards stopping the importation of rice because we consume a lot of rice in State. The state government is thus committed to this course and we won’t relent until we achieve this”.
A government approved distributor at Owoseni Market in Mile 12, Mrs. Bola Afilaka who also spoke about the product gave kudos to the State government for decentralising the sales of LAKE Rice stressing that the initiative has made consumers have easy access to the product.
“Since I started sales and distribution of LAKE Rice in this market as an approved government distributor, the demand have been overwhelming and the response has been wonderful. I believe the LAKE Rice initiative is laudable and is a good step in the right direction to stop importation and crash the price of rice”, she said.
