Should the rice pyramids unveiled by President Buhari recently qualify as one or a gimmick ahead of the 2023 presidential elections? With government officials, political associates, governors of the ruling party and party members in attendance coupled with the atmosphere of political rally, many Nigerians would swear that what the President and his men treated the nation to or what Nigerians witnessed was nothing but a political campaign.
The main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mocked the event, calling the rice pyramids, “pyramids of lies”. According to the opposition party, the launching is another shameless media stunt to deceive Nigerians.
The party expressed its contention in a statement by its national publicity secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba. The PDP publicity secretary said the All Progressives Congress (APC) only staged a media stunt to beguile Nigerians ahead of the 2023 elections.
The statement read in part: “Of course, there is nothing to celebrate in the APC pyramid of lies in Abuja. It is rather shameful that APC leaders are again ridiculing President Muhammadu Buhari by making him unveil pyramids of allegedly imported foreign rice which are re-bagged as locally produced, just to create an impression of a boost in local production under his watch.”
Many Nigerians have been also critical of the rice pyramids, especially as local rice continues to be scarce in the market, with the price of good ones, where available, unaffordable to ordinary Nigerians. What is available in the market is foreign rice which is also more affordable.
Talking about the rice pyramids, an agriculture expert, Dr. Bello Musa, was quoted as saying: “We await to see a crash in the price of local rice from the present N24,000 to N10,000. We are not unmindful of the fact that we are in an election year and anything is possible.”
The National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabir Ibrahim, said the CBN and the handlers of the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) must explain to Nigerians where the rice and maize they unveiled in pyramids were cultivated.
Ibrahim said, “With the high level of insecurity in the major rice and maize producing states, forcing farmers to keep off farmlands, we need to know where the rice was produced. Who owns the rice and maize?” He said while the ABP has supported agriculture greatly in the financing of small holder farmers, the pyramid was a deceit.
“If we have surplus food as depicted by the pyramids, why do we still have food shortages? Why are the prices still high in the market?” he questioned.
Carpeting the rice pyramids, the National President of the National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria (NPPAN), Alphonsus Inyang, said it was unfortunate that the CBN has resorted to showmanship. He said instead of the apex bank to focus on activities that would ensure sustainable economic development for the nation, it has decided to go for quick fixes and things that will earn it applause.
Said Inyang, “We keep saying that the money the CBN is spending is development money, managed by the development finance department of the Bank, and that they should sit down and work out the best way to spend the money, to give the country maximum benefit.
“You don’t spend development money to get applause; you use it to develop the economy, to spread prosperity and to improve livelihoods. But the CBN is more interested in getting people to clap for them. That is the reason for the rush for pyramids. Is CBN telling us that the rice pyramids in Ekiti State were rice cultivated in Ekiti?”
Even more intriguing is the disclosure by some unconfirmed sources that part of the rice used to build the pyramid was imported from northern Cameroun, Cotonou, Republic of Benin, Niger and Togo.
