The Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has ordered that foreign rice should be taken out of his menu, even as he mandated all members of his executive council and principal officers to own a farm before the end of the year.
The Governor disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists during his quarterly press briefing at the banquet hall of the Government House in Umuahia, the state capital.
He explained that his decision to take foreign rice out of his menu was to demonstrate that Nigeria, with her rich agricultural potentials, has the capacity for self-sufficiency in food production.
“We cannot be blessed with the kind of arable land we have in the North and the fertile rain forest in the South and still be dependent as a country on foreign food,” he asserted.
Ikpeazu advised that as a way to tackle the prevailing economic downturn occasioned by the global oil slide, Nigeria must develop a new policy that will discourage importation of foreign foods and encourage the cultivation and eating of local foods.
While stressing that the time has come for Nigerians to value the richness of their local menu, he insisted that Abia State must return to the land as a way of reclaiming its original status as the food haven of Nigeria.
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