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Text of the Address delivered by
His Excellency
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Governor, Ekiti State, Nigeria
on the occasion of the
FLAGGING OFF 0F EKITI RICE PYRAMID PROJECT
at
Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State
Tuesday, May 18, 2021
Protocols
1. Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen. I am glad to
welcome you all to the Land of Honour on this auspicious occasion. I
am particularly delighted to welcome my brother Governors from
Jigawa, Kebbi, Ondo and Osun State and the Governor of the Central
Bank of Nigeria.
2. This occasion is in line with the vision of our administration in Ekiti
State at ensuring accelerated development of agriculture which is the
mainstay of Ekiti people and a major effort at keying into President
Muhammadu Buhari’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda. As a
largely Agrarian State in Nigeria, we are investing in extensive
commercial agriculture, focussing on rice, cassava, cocoa, oil-palm and
yam tubers.
3. Rice has become the most consumed staple in Nigeria. In the year
2018 alone, Nigeria imported 0.58 trillion worth of rice valued at

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$1.65 Billion. The present policy of support for local rice production
by President Buhari has contributed immensely to food security in
Nigeria. Considering the huge market and high population of Nigeria
with the urgent need to eradicate poverty, it has successfully
demonstrated the need to look inwards by taking advantage of the
available fertile land, perennial river bodies and human resources for
the production of rice.
4. One of the policies of the Federal Government towards encouraging
agriculture is the CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme. The program
was introduced on November 17, 2015 to enhance rice production.
The first two (2) years of the program (2015 to 2017) recorded
significant increase in rice production with resultant decrease in Rice
importation. For instance, rice importation from Thailand fell from
644,131 metric tonnes in September 2015 to 20,000 metric tonnes in
September 2017, which accounts for a drop of over 90%.
5. The success so far recorded was made possible because of the Anchor
borrowers program introduced by the Federal government in
conjunction with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) that
has not only improved rice production but has also enhanced the
quality through de-stoning. It has also seen the increase in the number
of local rice mills.
6. Federal Government disbursed money to the Anchor and in
conjunction with the participating States, for land clearing, provision
of seeds for planting, inputs such as knapsack sprayers, tube wells,
pumping machines, ploughs, combined harvesters, rice milling
machines and production lines, packaging were also provided. Funds
provided at low interest made possible: -

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• Easy access to rice farmers;
• Economies of scale as large clusters of farmers are enlisted into the
programme;
• Enhanced the rice value chain in the form of finance to primary
producers to Processors – Handlers – Wholesalers – Storage –
Marketing (Branding) – Export;
• Improvement in farmers’ fortunes;
• Employment generation;
• Food sufficiency, thereby banishing poverty and insecurity;
• Generation of revenue as farmers will now pay taxes;
• Diversification of Ekiti State economy;
• Improvement in the economy as naira gains value.
7. This ease of production of rice -the most valued staple in Nigeria- has
been successfully practiced and celebrated in some states like Kebbi,
Jigawa, Sokoto, Niger, Kwara, Ebonyi etc. It is gratifying that today,
Ekiti State is now joining the train as a participant in the Anchor
Borrowers Programme of the CBN, in partnership with the National
body of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria led by Alhaji Goronyo.
8. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Ekiti state is undoubtedly blessed
with undulating terrains, perennial streams, watershed and
transboundary rivers which have been instrumental in all-round year
production of crops to meet the nutritional requirement of Ekiti State
dwellers.
9. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy of Ekiti people. It is
therefore not by happenstance that Agriculture and Rural
Development is one of the key pillars of our government’s governance
sagenda. Upon assumption of office on October 16, 2018, in our quest

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to provide food security for our people, we made deliberate efforts
geared toward changing Agriculture in Ekiti State from mere
subsistence agriculture to lucrative agribusiness.
10. As a responsive and responsible government, we encourage and
mobilize our farmers to take full advantage of and participate in the
CBN Rice Anchor Borrowers Programme to:
i. Develop a vibrant rice program value chain that will attract
investments for locally produced rice;
ii. Raise rice production level from the current 347,000 MT to 1.5
million metric tonnes per year in Ekiti in order to feed enough
paddy rice to the three (3) rice mills that are coming up in Ekiti
State - Jumlar Rice Mill (JMK Foods), Dangote Rice Mill and
Stallion Rice Mill. Jumlar Rice mill is almost ready for
commissioning. Stallion and Dangote Mills are also on course
barring the challenge of Covid-19 pandemic.
iii. Develop a vibrant seed production sector in partnership with
African rice centre;
iv. Raise the quality of locally produced rice to international
standard through modern processing;
v. Build a network of rice paddy producers (Clusters) around rice
mills to ensure adequate supply of paddy and;
vi. Create 12,000 jobs for 12,000 farmers who will in turn create
additional 50,000 jobs in full production across the rice value
chain between now and 2023.

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11. As a government, we are determined in our continued quest to
diversify the economy and maximize the potential of our mainstay,
agriculture. To this end, we have recorded tremendous success in
other areas in the Agriculture sector. The 40-year old moribund Ikun
Dairy farm has been resuscitated in partnership with Promassidor
Limited with assistance from the Central Bank estimated to attract
over $5million investment with 10,000 litres daily production of milk
in focus. We also recently commissioned Farmkonnect, the largest
snail farm in Africa with annual production of 3.6 million snails with
slime extraction at Egbeja snail village, Oke-Imesi Ekiti. While several
other agribusinesses and agro-allied industries are at various stages
of completion – in cassava, cocoa, oil-palm, forestry, aquaculture and
livestock management.
12. As a government, our simple pledge is to institutionalize
commercial agriculture and make agribusiness enticing, exciting and
encouraging for the populace, especially the youths. That is why we
started our Youth in Commercial Agriculture Development (YCARD)
programme which now has over 1000 young farmers. I am sure their
President, Sanya Fabiyi and other members are here in the gathering.
Without doubt, Ekiti State is making this solemn pledge a reality today
with this tripartite partnership between CBN ANCHOR BORROWERS
FUNDS, RIFAN (Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria) and Ekiti State
Government. This is the commencement of the programme in the
Southwest and I am glad that my brother Governors – Akeredolu and
Oyetola are here to honour us with their presence. It is my expectation
that Ondo and Osun States will be the next destinations for this
tripartite partnership.

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13. I want to particularly express my profound appreciation to
President Muhammadu Buhari for his relentless commitment to
Agricultural transformation in Nigeria. I also want to thank my
brothers – Governors Atiku Bagudu and Badaru Abubakar for their
constant encouragement and their determination to get Ekiti State on
the Agricultural diversification map. The Governor of Central Bank has
been supportive in our various Agricbusinesses in Ekiti. We have
enjoyed his support in our partnership for milk production and
ranching with Promasidor as well as in our cassava programme and
now in this partnership with RIFAN. As for RIFAN, Alhaji Goronyo and
his team have been stellar in their commitment to this initiative and
we are very encouraged by the passion demonstrated so far. We
believe we can always count on them in making this partnership work
in the overall interest of our people.
14. Once again, on behalf of the Government and people of Ekiti
State, I welcome you to this occasion.
15. Thank you and God bless.
Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON
Governor