Onome Amuge
The Lagos State government is pressing ahead to deliver its flagship 32 metric tonnes per hour rice mill being built at Imota in Ikorodu in the first quarter of next year, it has emerged.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu gave strong hint of the government’s push Thursday during FATE Foundation’s fifth annual alumni conference that was held virtually as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The multi-billion naira rice mill when operational will ensure a steady supply of freshly processed rice of about 2.4 million bags of 50kg per annum to Lagosians, said Sanwo-Olu, who added that over 250,000 jobs will be created in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the rice value chain.
He explained that one of his administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S development agenda that incorporates traffic management and transportation, health and environment, education and technology, is to ensure food security and improved nutrition for Lagosians.
To meet the paddy rice requirement of the mill and ensure the rice mill doesn’t become a ‘white elephant’ project, the state government has undertaken a backward integration in the form of partnerships with other states, including Kwara, Sokoto, Borno and Kebbi. The proposed partnership is also targeted at getting the required provision of inputs such as seeds, fertiliser and irrigation facilities where applicable to the rice farmers.
The integrated rice mill, which is a 22-hectare facility, consists of a complete set of new mills, two warehouses, water treatment plant, 16 silos with a storage capacity of 40 metric tonnes per silo, effluent processing plant among other facilities. The mill is expected to produce 115,200 metric tonnes of milled rice annually when it begins operation.
