President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday inaugurated the two million metric tonnes per hour Lagos Rice Mill in Imota, Lagos State.
The President, who was taken round the facility by the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in company of the Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, Special Adviser to the governor on Rice Mill Initiative, Dr Oluwarotimi Fashola and other top government officials cut the tape to mark the formal opening of the rice mill at exactly 5:40pm.
Sanwo-Olu, while speaking on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, noted that the President is happy about the project, adding that the Lagos Rice Mill is part of the State Government’s resolve to complement the Federal Government ‘s rice revolution.
He further informed that the Rice Mill which is the largest in Africa and third largest in the world will generate about 250,000 direct and indirect jobs for Lagosians which will in turn contribute immensely to the economy of the immediate community playing host to the Rice Mill, Lagos State, Nigeria and Africa in general.
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The Rice Mill, is a 2 by 16 Metric Tonnes per hour standing on an area of 8.5Ha land with an annual paddy requirement of over 240,000MT to produce 2.5 million bags of 50kg rice per annum.
The integrated rice milling operation in Lagos State started on the success of the Rice for Job Programme which began in 2008.
The programme covered all aspects of the rice value chain. Paddy processing was done in cottage mills.The programme graduated about 1,000 rice farmers across the value chain with different brands of packaged ofada rice in 500g and 1kg.
The programme birthed the first integrated mill in the south-west Nigeria, a 2.5MTPH mill in Imota which was in operation since 2016. The mill had an annual output of of 120,000 bags of 50kg rice.
