Thailand to establish rice mills in Nigeria – Minister Lai Mohammed

The Federal Government on Sunday announced that Thailand had commenced moves to establish rice mills in Nigeria.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, disclosed this during a tour of some rice farms in Kebbi State.

He said the Federation Government had won its fight against rice importation, particularly from Thailand, as Nigeria had reduced its importation of rice by over 90 per cent.

“As we speak today, Thailand rice growers are making passionate appeal to the Federal Government. What they are doing now is that they want to set up rice mills in Nigeria, which means we have won,” Mohammed stated.

When asked again to explain why Thailand rice producers were pushing to set up mills in Nigeria, Mohammed replied, “Yes, Thailand wants to set up several rice mills in Nigeria because we have stopped importing from them.”

The minister stated that Nigeria was able to cut down on the importation of rice from Thailand from 644,000 metric tonnes two years ago to a little over 20,000MT currently.

Source: PUNCH