Reduce Rice Consumption To Once A Week, Director Urges Nigerians

Mr Joe Kwanashie, the Director, Irrigation and
Drainage, Ministry of Water Resources, has
urged Nigerians to reduce their consumption
of rice to once a week.
Kwanashie said in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja
that the advice became imperative due to the
amount foreign exchange spent on rice
importation.
According to him, Nigeria spends N1 billion on
rice importation daily.
‘’ If Nigerians decide not to eat rice every day but
once a week, it will drastically reduce the
importation of the commodity.
‘’If today we decide that instead of eating rice
three times a day, we are only going to eat it
once a day or once a week, we wouldn’t need to
import all that rice.
“As a child, I know that in my house we didn’t eat
rice every day.
“Today, most households in this country eat rice
every day.
“Must we eat rice? what’s wrong with eating eba
or pounded yam that we produce locally? will
you die if you don’t eat rice? Kwanashie asked.
He said that the money spent on the importation
of the commodity would not encourage
economic growth, noting that Nigeria had so
many other food substitutes.
‘’It’s something that requires political will and
commitment and not only from the political
leaders but also from us; its small sacrifices like
this that Nigerians can make to make this country
better.
‘’Look at the damage we are doing to our
economy; one billion naira every day! do you
know how many jobs that would provide in this
country?’’ he asked.
The director, however, noted that Nigeria had the
capacity to produce rice both for local
consumption and also for export, stressing that
the human and material resources required to to
achieve it were also available.
On what the ministry is doing to combat the
effects of flooding that had ravaged most
farmlands and homes in the country, the director
said:“The solution to flooding problem is
multisectoral.”