By Chinyere Anyanwu
The agricultural revolution of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration received a boost on Monday as he commissioned the 32 metric tonnes per hour Lagos Rice Mill located in Imota in the Ikorodu area of Lagos State.
The president, who took a tour of the facility in company of the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Commissioner of Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, Special Adviser to the Governor on Rice Mill Initiative, and Dr. Oluwarotimi Fashola, among other government officials and royal fathers, cut the tape to mark the formal opening of the rice mill at about 5.45pm.
The Imota Rice Mill, regarded as the largest in Africa and one of the largest in the world, has the capacity to produce 2.5 million bags of 50kg rice per annum.
The rice milling plant located on 13 hectares of land is projected to produce 32 metric tonnes of grain per hour. It is also expected to generate 1,500 direct jobs and 254,000 indirect jobs and would boost the economy of the host community. Governor Sanwo-Olu, while commenting on the project, said it is the state’s contribution to the Buhari administration’s food security drive and national economic growth.
He noted that the president was elated at the magnitude of the project and huge prospects it would present to the state, the country and the African continent as a whole. The event had in attendance several dignitaries including royal fathers like the monarch of the host project’s community, Randu of Imota, Oba Mudashiru Ajibade Bakare-Agoro, Oni Iru of Iruland, Oba Abdulwasiu Omogbolahan Lawal, Oluwo of Iwo, Oba Abdulrosheed Akanbi, white cap chiefs, former deputy governor, Abiodun Ogunlende, past and present commissioners in Lagos State, among others.
