The Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, on Wednesday
in Abuja said Nigerian businessmen demanded
2.5 billion dollars (about N492 billion) a week for
importation of goods and services into the
country.
Ogbeh made this known in a meeting with
officials of VICAMPRO, an indigenous Agro
Company investing in production of Irish Potato
on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that the ministry was willing to support
local investors with capacity to produce goods
and save the country’s foreign exchange.

He said that the consumption of rice in the
country was rising and that a lot of people were
not aware that the rice had some degree of
arsenic.
The minister said that consuming rice in large
quantity on a regular basis was a bit of health
risk, adding that substituting it with potato
would be welcomed development.
“The volume of importation of virtually
everything into this country is too much.
“The demand for dollars in this country as at
today is 2.5 billion a week; this is the quantum
of dollars Nigerians are asking for to import
things.
“Since 1986, we began this habit of importing
everything and doing virtually nothing at home
to sustain ourselves; now, we do not have the
dollars and people are very hungry.
“This day was coming anyway, no matter who
was in power; we have the most ridiculous
method of devaluing our currency; every week,
we auction the dollar and naira goes up.
“We sat and were hoping that by devaluation,
we are going to arrive at Eldorado; if we
continue like this, it will be a thousand naira to a
dollar,’’ he said.
While commending the investor, Ogbeh said that
any private sector effort that would develop
local production of goods would be fully
supported by the ministry.
“We should aggressively take the West African
market; there is no reason why we should allow
Irish potato from Ireland and France and
Belgium into West Africa; it is the same story
with onions.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of
VICAMPRO, Mr Michael Agbogo, said that potato
could bring value worth over one trillion naira
annually if properly harnessed.
He said that potato was the fourth most
important crop in the world and that a barrel of
oil was an equivalent of 14 kilogrammes of
potatoes.
According to Agbogo, while current price of
crude oil will fetch the country about N16,000
per barrel, the equivalent in potato will fetch the
country N39,000.
He said that in terms of value, potato had three
times the value of crude oil, adding that it was a
huge industry the country could get into.
Agbogo said that Egypt and Algeria were the
leading potato producing countries in Africa,
with Egypt producing four million tonnes
annually from about 100,000 hectares of land.
He said that Nigeria, which had close to 500,000
hectares, was struggling to produce one million
tonnes of potato per annum


http://dailypost.ng/2016/09/14/nigerians-eat-much-rice-thats-expensive-audu-ogbe/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Really?

On this same nairaland, someone told the story of a mother who would put so much pepper in the food that the children would only eat very little to save money. Lack of human compassion is the only thing that would make a grown assed phucktard say Nigerians eat too much rice. What affordable options are available?

Don't let me curse your generation with incurable illnesses o

Jesu

Lol. This administration is just verbally wonderful

sick old f*uck

Sometimes it's better not to say anything than to say something really inappropriate. For example, I could say he needs psychiatric evaluation, but since that will be an insult to those suffering from mental illnesses, I won't say anything.

Isn't it obvious that it took Buhari good six months to find this man??



I give up

yea! we eat so much rice as if is an achievement, we should stop importing what we can produce,

Minister kwa...Agric HOD...smh

Audu Ogbeh and Buhari are confused bastard ......Quote me any where

Dry

This is real one chance!!! now rice is not good for our health simply because our government can not produce rice that will go round, if rice is not good for our health then no Chinese man is healthy, APC promise to drive us to heaven instead they are driving us to hell, the problem now is that we do not want the heaven again,if you know where you pick us from pleas je!je go back there and drop us, na beg we the beg,we no wan go the paradise again na force!!!

amazzinggrace:
On this same nairaland, someone told the story of a mother who would put so much pepper in the food that the children would only eat very little to save money. Lack of human compassion is the only thing that would make a grown man say Nigerians eat too much rice. What affordable options are available?

what have u achieve since u have be eating acidic imported rice. my friend- u can eat fresh locally produce rice for ur good health. beans, yam and garri etc
https://www.nairaland.com/politics

ANOTHER ONE IN THE MOLD OF DOGARA AND LAI

And they used half a year to look for this man

we chop chop everything, import everything, which one we dey produce? as a nation blessed with arable land and jobless able bodied men and women, we have to feed our family and the nation.

All those men wey dey find government work make una dey go farm now. before five years you don turn Dangote patner

Hmmm.. .

Jesusloveyou:
yea! we eat so much rice as if is an achievement, we should stop importing what we can produce,

so Nigerians that mainly eat rice at an average thrice a week now consumes more rice than China, Thailand, Bangladesh or even Taiwan eh... Apc has clouded ur mind. it's nt only potato, it's nduku.

mars123:
we chop chop everything, import everything, which one we dey produce? as a nation blessed with arable land and jobless able bodied men and women, we have to feed our family and the nation.

All those men wey dey find government work make una dey go farm now. before five years you don turn Dangote patner

gosh ur comments are disgusting.

I wish PMB and his ministers will talk less and do more! The more they make statement the more the issue becomes complicated!

When your brain retires but your greed is still hyper active!

this APC administration get many people with different sicknesses.
Buhari= ear infection...
lai Mohammed and Adesina= mouth infection.
Audu ogbeh= cancer of the mouth.
Amaechi= brain malfunction.
kemi = economic and brain failure.

Another day, another silly statement by these lunatics in government.

Do they even listen to themselves? Is it today that we started eating rice? Why was it not expensive before?

CHANGEEEEEEEE

amazzinggrace:
On this same nairaland, someone told the story of a mother who would put so much pepper in the food that the children would only eat very little to save money. Lack of human compassion is the only thing that would make a grown assed phucktard say Nigerians eat too much rice. What affordable options are available?

Don't let me curse your generation with incurable illnesses o

cassava Pap yam potato

And this man is a Minister of Federal Republic of Nigeria and he is still one

too many clowns in this government, he is talking as if some people see the rice to chop

Hmmmmm

shuggah:

gosh ur comments are disgusting.

thanks for the compliment!