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COVID-19: Oyo State rejects Nigerian govt’s 1,800 bags of rice
The Oyo State government has rejected the 1,800 bags of rice donated by the federal government through the Nigeria Customs Service to cushion the effect of COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic last month, President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the distribution of 150 trucks of rice seized by Nigeria Customs Service to the 36 states of the federation.
Executive Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Agribusiness, Dr. Debo Akande, who disclosed this on Friday at the state secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, the state capital, said the rice was not fit for human consumption.
Dr Akande said the decision to return the rice was reached by the food security committee of the coronavirus disease task force after series of examinations.
“The state government discovered that the grains of rice were infested by weevil and other pests, and took the decision in the interest of residents of the state,” he said.
“We initially assumed that it was just some part of it that was infested but some commissioners from five or six ministries came with me to inspect and we realised that it is not just some but quite a lot of them were infested. We do quality control of all that we receive it is just that that was received from the federal government that we found infested.”
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He also said that there was no cause for alarm as the state had enough to distribute to its people at this period.
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