Bad Rice: Between Oyo, Customs And Umar Farouq

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

The Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, Oyo/Osun Command, and the Oyo State Government has traded words over the condition of the bags of rice delivered to the state as part of the palliative measures of the Federal Government.

Recall that the Federal Government had earlier ordered the NCS to distribute the seized bags of rice in its custody to all the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory for subsequent distribution to the poor and vulnerable people in their states.

However, the Oyo State Government, on Friday, rejected its own share of the rice of 1,800 bags.

Debo Akande, Executive Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Agribusiness, disclosed that the state government discovered that the bags of rice are unfit for consumption, as they were being infected by weevils, noting that it would be returned by to the Federal Government.

“We received this items from the Federal Government via the federal ministry of humanitarian affairs and we brought them here to the warehouse and in it is in the process of further inspection, that we discovered that almost all the grains of rice has been infested by weevil and other pests,” he said.

The development led to insinuations by members of the ruling party that the Oyo State Government is trying to score cheap political points with the rejection of the rice.

Reacting to this, NCS Oyo/Osun Command, in a statement, signed by its Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Lagos, on Sunday, said the agency is surprised that the Oyo State Government rejected the bags of rice after three days of taking delivery of them.

Mr. Lagos noted that the bags of rice were inspected by some Oyo State officials before distribution.

Part of the statement reads,

“As instructed, on the 20th of April 2020, the Oyo/Osun Area Command received high ranking members of the Oyo State Government in the persons of the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Jacob Ojekunle; the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Saidat Bolatumi Oloko; Executive Adviser to the Governor on Agribusiness, Mr Debo Akande; The representative of Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management and Social Development in Oyo, Mrs MO Lasisi and other members.

“They visited the command twice on the same day to inspect the bags of rice that were available for allocation.

“The Customs Area Controller, Comptroller, HU Ngozi led them to the warehouses where they inspected the bags of rice, checked expiration dates and expressed satisfaction and readiness to evacuate their allocation.

“Before leaving the command on their second visit, they pleaded to be given those from a section of one of the warehouses they considered “fresher” and this was granted.

“Subsequently, on the 21st of April 2020, the Oyo State Government team came with their vehicles under the supervision of Mr Jacob Ojekunle, Mrs Saidat Oloko, Mrs MO Lasisi and other top officials, in the presence of the Customs Area Controller, other officers and members of the press to witness the loading and exiting of the 1800 bags of parboiled rice allocated to their State as palliative to the vulnerable.

“Incidentally, in the process of loading, few bags fell at different times and burst open in the presence of Mr Ojekunle and Mrs Lasisi and there was no time that any of the burst bags of rice had weevils in them. The warehouse had no signs of weevils, neither were there signs of weevils on the loaders or on the trucks under the scorching sun.

“The three (3) states; Oyo, Osun and Ekiti States took delivery of the bags of rice allocated to them, returned their landing certificates to show delivery to its final destinations. They also showed appreciation to the CGC for his magnanimity. Contrary to allegations by Oyo State Government, Osun and Ekiti States have not complained about their allocations.

“The Command is therefore surprised, even embarrassed to hear three (3) days later, that the rice allocated to them were infested with weevils and unfit for human consumption.”

Reacting to NCS Oyo/Osun Command, the Oyo State Government through the Chief Press Secretary, asserted that no responsible government would feed its citizens with weevil-infested rice, noting that the there is no need to dramatize or politicize the issue.

Part of the statement reads, “No government that is worth its name would agree to serve its people with food items that are infested with weevils that are clearly visible to the eyes. On Friday, April 24, members of the Food Security sub-committee of the Oyo State Covid-19 Task Force embarked on an early morning meeting that lasted close to three hours.

“The meeting was to review the report of the technical team that had been conducting tests on the 1,800 bags of 50kg rice presented to the state government by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) in respect of Federal Government’s Covid-19 palliatives.

“The Committee eventually invited the Media, after coming to a conclusion that more than a majority of the 1,800 bags were not fit for human consumption as they had been infested with weevils that freely move about on every of the bags kept at the storehouse in the Secretariat, Ibadan.

“The weevils were clearly noticeable as each or the warehouses was opened. Television cameras were allowed to film the bags of rice just to show the clear reason why the bags were being returned.

“A letter that was co-signed by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Commissioner for Special Duties and the Executive Adviser on Agribusiness, was also prepared for onward delivery to the Oyo/Osun Command of the Customs which supplied the rice in the first instance.

“The state government neither intended to dramatize nor politicise the development. It was just out to state the facts as they are: we cannot serve our people expired rice and replace hunger with another disease. The Executive Adviser to the governor on Agribusiness, Dr. Debo Akande, who addressed the media clearly stated that if the Customs could muster other bags of rice in good condition, the state would readily receive such.

“But the immediate reaction from Customs, Oyo/Osun Command was a bit comforting as it passed a message to the state government that the bad bags of rice must have been picked from the wrong store. We also got confirmation that Customs was ready to immediately send in 600 bags to replace the bad ones and that representatives of the state were free to immediately come for inspection.

“The state’s team that went for the inspection, however, returned another sad verdict: at least 30 percent of the 600 bags promised as replacement were also infested with weevils. To our surprise, statements started flying to town, detailing confusing messages. We wish to place on record that the statements credited to the Customs Service were at best a poor colouration of the truth. Besides, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, which commented on the matter, was merely dabbling in what it knows nothing about. This is not about politics and political grandstanding.

“The Customs claimed that the Special Adviser on Security, Commissioner of Police Fatai Owoseni (rtd) was part of the team that inspected the rice. That’s a white lie. The team that inspected the rice while at the Customs warehouses came from the State Operations Coordinating Unit (SOCU) domiciled in the Ministry of Budget and Planning, while the sub-committee on Food Security principally resides in the Ministry of Agriculture.

“The sub-committee took its time before it came to the unavoidable conclusion that the bags of rice be returned. It has nothing to do with political correctness that some could wrongly ascribe. A state that is trying all it could to secure palliatives for at least 120,000 residents would not readily reject 1,800 bags of rice if the reasons are not compelling. We wish to advise the Customs to desist from statements that do not edify the Service, because it would amount to clear betrayal of public trust for an elected government to sanction the release of expired and infested food items to residents of a state.”

Meanwhile, the Ondo State Government has also rejected its own share of the FG bags of rice as palliative, noting that some of them are expired and unfit for consumption.

The Ekiti State Government has, however, demurred saying that it did not receive contaminated rice.

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has on his part said that all the Southwest states were supplied with the bad rice but that only the Oyo State Government which is the only one that is not inclined to the All Progressives Congress, APC that was bold enough to speak out.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Hajiya Umar Farouq has said the rice was certified fit for human consumption by NAFDAC.

She spoke during a briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 on Monday.

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