Sad, As Nigerians Are Been Taken To The Era When Rice Was Eaten Once A Year -By Isaac Asabor

It is not an exaggeration to say that there was an era when rice was eaten once a year in most homes. The reason why it was eaten once a year cannot be farfetched as it was then unaffordable by many and considered to be food for the rich. However, today the story is different as rice meal has become so common that it is today eaten by virtually every family on a daily basis. It has now become common on everybody’s table”.

At this juncture, permit me to nostalgically and unapologetically recall that in those days that it was very common for a teen to challenge his or her playmate with the puzzle, “Guess what my mother is cooking”, and if the puzzle is rightly or correctly guessed, the respondent will be invited to join in devouring the then staple food, which was always sumptuous. In fact, the aroma of the stew that was being fried within a neighborhood was enough to make neighbors become envious and jealous.

However, sometime in the early 80s rice became common and affordable ostensibly as a result of massive importation that commenced under the regime of Alhaji Shehu Shagari who was Nigeria’s president from 1979 to 1983. In fact, there was stupendous rice consumption in Nigeria which created a substantial surge and made rice a political commodity in the country. To worsen the situation, smugglers were on their own aggressively bringing cheap rice into the country so much that rice was no longer eaten once a year in many homes but every day.

In fact, on the one hand, rice became a critical component of the Nigerian diet and on the other hand, a major consumer of the country’s foreign exchange. Against the foregoing backdrop, the federal government in 1985 imposed a ban on rice importation in order to facilitate and increase local production of the grain, ostensibly to meet the high demand for the product.

Given the foregoing backdrop, it is sad to opine that the ongoing government led by President Muhammadu Buhari may take not a few Nigerians to the era when rice was eaten once in a year. This is because the prices of the food item; depending on their sizes or quantities have gone up. It would be recalled that during Jonathan’s administration that Nigerians were buying a bag of rice for N7, 000. 

Contrariwise, the price of a bag of rice in November 2022 jumped to 54% in two months. Though findings showed that the price of the item soared on the back of the floods that ravaged many parts of the country a few months ago. However, to most Nigerians, the widely reported floods that affected many parts of the country were merely a contributory factor to the price increase in rice. The government is been blamed for not being able to keep its electoral promises. 

However, the prevailing market price of rice in Lagos shows that a 50kg bag of locally parboiled rice now sells for N48, 000 or more in some places, up from N28, 000 in September. The price of a 50kg bag of foreign parboiled rice rose to N48, 000 from N31, 000, and even slightly higher in some markets.

In fact, despite the various measures taken by the Federal Government to drive down the price of a 50kg bag of locally produced rice rose by about 92 percent between January 2016 and December 2021.

Ostensibly sounding divinatory, it would be recalled that the governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Douye Diri, early this year at a media parley on Channels TV said,  “Before now, the rice here in Bayelsa, it was eaten once in a year. It was seen as food for the rich, today the story is different. Rice is like a daily thing at everybody’s table.”

Against the foregoing backdrop, it is sad that 5 years down the line when the federal government at the time the then Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, briefed the State House Correspondents at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) at the Presidential Villa in Abuja that there is every indication that Nigerians are going back to the days when rice is eaten once in a year, which was invariably on Christmas Day.