I Proudly Affirm That I Eat Rice Grown In Nigeria – Jonathan

Ahead of the February 14 Presidential election, President Goodluck Jonathan has again enumerated his administration’s achievement in the agricultural sector. According to him, rice production is improving in Nigeria, so much that his family consumes made-in-Nigeria rice.

“With pride, I am able to again affirm, I eat rice grown in Nigeria,” Jonathan wrote on his Facebook page.

The president had often told Nigerians that the first family eats Nigeria-made rice, as a way of showing his commitment to improving the agricultural sector that has witnessed immense growth in local rice production.

At the opening of Africa’s largest rice mill set up by Olam Nigeria Limited in Nasarawa last year, Jonathan had told the audience that he and his family eat rice made in Nigeria. He added at the commissioning of the rice mill that look he looked “forward to the day when Nigeria rice will go beyond our shores and traded internationally.”

In his post on Facebook today, the president remained confident that the growth of the rice industry would continue, just as he expressed his happiness “that more and more of the rice eaten in Nigeria now originates from Nigeria.

“Major restaurants and hotel chains report to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture that they cannot meet the demand for locally grown rice, a report that corroborates our expectations that Nigeria will become self-sufficient in rice production in no distant time, should we maintain the on-going momentum of our Agricultural Transformation Agenda,” the president wrote.

He therefore expressed pride at the achievement of the Nigerian farmer, adding that “the sky is the limit if we stay the course.”

Jonathan promised Nigerians to stay on course in his administration’s transformation agenda in the agricultural sector.