Nigeria is the Africa’s leading consumer
of rice and one of the largest rice importers in the world. Statistics
had shown that Nigeria imports about 3 million metric tons of rice
annually.
But, since the government restricted
importation of rice from the border point to seaports, smuggling of rice
into the country has increased astronomically with an estimated 1
million metric tons (20 million 50KG Bags of rice) suspected to enter
the country illegally through its porous borders on an annual basis.
According to statistics, the three
million metric tons of rice consumed yearly amounted to about 60 million
50kg bags of rice that are legally imported while over 800 million
metric tons are smuggled into the country.
Nigeria spent N630 billion, or about
$3.8 billion, to import agricultural products in 2012. In 2011, Nigeria
was the world’s second biggest importer of rice, bringing in about 2.5
million tons of rice.
But, early 2013, in an effort to regain
food self-sufficiency, the government increased the tax on imported rice
from 50 to 110 percent, a 60 percent hike. The tax was meant to
encourage locally produced and processed rice and wean the country off
imported rice but it rather encouraged smuggling and loss of revenue to
government as major rice exporters from South and Southeast Asia in
other to evade huge tax began diverting shipments to Nigeria’s
neighbouring countries—namely Benin Republic to the west and Cameroon to
the east—whose governments suddenly began earning millions of dollars
in duties.
Since it was practically nearly
impossible for domestic rice producers to build the level of capacity
required to mill and process enough rice in time to have a significant
effect on the market, smuggling especially of rice that has passed its
shelf life become order of the day for rice importers and vendors in the
country.
Shelf life of polished Rice
Smuggled white rice isn’t believed to be
good for consumption because it has a storage life of 8-10 years at a
stable temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Sadly enough, most of the
smuggled rice has used over 10 years in the silos of the developed
countries before being shipped into Nigeria for consumption.
Customs raised the alarm on influx of Expired rice into Nigeria
The Comptroller-General of Customs, Col.
Hameed Ali (rtd), recently said 99 per cent of rice smuggled through
the land borders are not fit for human consumption.
He said samples of some of the rice
seizures made over a period were referred to NAFDAC to ascertain their
condition but were certified that rice smuggled through the borders was
unfit for human consumption.
Corroborating the Customs CG, the
Customs Area Controller, Oyo/Oshun Command, Comptroller Tope Ogunkua
warned that expired rice flood Nigeria markets.
He said the consuming public should be
vigilant when they want to purchase rice in the market to ensure that
they do not consume expired rice.
According to Ogunkua, the command has
continued to discover so many bags of expired rice out of the many lorry
loads of the commodity which it has impounded saying that it was an
indication that the smugglers have continued in their attempts to bring
expired rice into Nigeria.
He said “despite the policy banning
importation of rice through the border, people still bring in the rice
through the borders. In fact the number of importers trying to do so has
increased now and that is why we have so many lorry loads of rice in
our compound while there are still some in the Barracks. We are also
battling them very well and that is why we are able to make all these
seizures”.
He explained that consumers need to
continue to be extremely careful when they go to buy rice especially as
we move into the festivity period; they must ensure they inspect the
rice they want to purchase very well, whether they want to buy in bags
or out of the ones that have been poured into the basins to be retailed.
Why Customs placed ban on polished rice through the land borders
The Customs had said it played ban on rice through the land borders in order to exercise control over what Nigeria consumed.
According to a former Comptroller,
Federal Operations Unit, FOU A of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mohammed
Dahiru, rice was banned through the land borders by the Federal
government in other to control what should be brought into the country.
He said the FOU A has done enough to curb smuggling if rice through the land border.
“I believe we have been able to achieve
greater percentage of suppressing smuggling and if somebody is to be
objective and be fair to customs FOU A, I believe it will be a pass mark
because what is in the FOU A warehouse both open and other warehouse is
good testimony that FOU is working. It is full to the brim for rice.
Ingenious ways polished rice is smuggled into Nigeria
Smugglers of rice are said to have
device ingenious way of carrying out their illegal activities as
according to a source, the smugglers often package the rice in a
disguise form to make it look like other goods that were not outlawed.
“We have seen rice conveyed in open
wooden canoes across our creeks and water ways with generous amount of
dirty waters splashing on them. We have seen some mixed with other
grains bags to deceive customs; some are stuffed inside any available
crevice and compartments of vehicles, including the engine area.
“The concealed rice is thereafter
re-bagged half cooked and presented in our markets for sale as imported
rice. Bags of rice meant for Nigerians’ consumption is being conveyed in
coffins inside make shift ambulance vehicles. Often time, importers in
the borders have to wait for months for the green light from corrupt
customs officials before they gamble their ways across the borders.
“Rice being a perishable product, lose
valuable shelve life in non-conductive strong conditions. We have strong
evidence linking some reputable importers to cases of re-bagging
expired rice to prolong their shelve life,’’ he added
How to identify expired polished rice
Since rice has an indefinite shelf life
if kept dry, it is hard to tell if it has gone bad. One thing to watch
for is the presence of the rice weevil, a tiny reddish-brown bug. If you
see these moving in your product, you should discard the entire
container and disinfect the container and the surrounding shelves.
Expired brown rice, on the other hand,
is easier to spot. Brown rice may become oily and give off a rancid
odour because of its essential fatty acids that go bad as they oxidize.
According to www.oureverdaylife.com, an
online site, rice may be described as expired if the bran oil has
started to go rancid, the smell will be obvious – dank and musty, with a
nose-crinkling sharpness. There are also visible signs of
deterioration. The rice grains may look discoloured and oily. The grains
may even start to stick together in clumps. Depending on the degree of
moisture the rice has been exposed to, there may be visible mould.
But, a rice vendor at Sango Market,
Chukwudi Nonso said the easiest way to identify expired rice is by
firstly rubbing in between palms. He said if it successfully turns into
dust then the cereal has expired.
He also noted that another way to
identify a rice that has passed it’s shelve life is when it refused to
sink when poured into water he said instead of the rise to sink inside
the water, a substantial amount would be seen floating on the water.”
Nonso said.
Implications of eating expired polished rice
Though some expiry dates relate to
product taste, in some cases eating expired rice triggers food
poisoning. Symptoms and health effects vary depending on the type of
poisoning.
However, common signs include cramping
in the stomach area, frequent vomiting, fever, dizziness, dehydration
and persistent diarrhoea. The symptoms may last a few hours, days or
weeks depending on the severity of the condition. Rice stored past its
use-by date in poor conditions can even become contaminated with the
serious bacterial infections salmonella or listeria.
One obvious sign of rice well past its
expiry date is the growth of mould. Mold includes several types of
fungi. Their spores land on the food from the air and start to grow.
Some moulds produce toxic substances as they develop. Mycotoxins can
cause itchiness, nausea, dizziness and sometimes headaches.
Why Nigerians should patronize Local rice against polished rice
Now that an alarm over safety of foreign
rice has been raised, it is high time Nigerians embraced local rice
especially because of its health benefits.
It was established that reason many
people prefer the polished rice to the locally-made unpolished rice in
Nigeria is the stress they go through in picking the latter before
cooking it, compared to the polished rice which is very clean and ready
for boiling and also can be cooked in less than 20 minutes compared to
the unpolished rice.
But then, local rice is self-preserving
and one of the foods that add value to the lives of health conscious
people including those who are diabetics.
According to an expert, Osaretin Albert,
both the white and brown rice contain similar amounts of energy,
carbohydrates and protein. Local rice however contains higher amounts of
vitamins and minerals; the cellulose of local rice not only increases
the fibre content but also contains a variety of colour pigments that is
beneficial for health.
Local rice variety contains higher
proteins at raw cooked and soaked states as compared to imported rice.
It was also found that local rice contains rough surface and more
phosphorous and fibre which help in the reduction of the risk of bowel
disorder, fight constipation among others.
Smuggled rice are substandard – NAFDAC
The National Agency for Food Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC) warned that rice smuggled into
through the land borders are substandard.
The Acting Director-General, NAFDAC,
Yetunde Oni said that records showed that rice imported through the
seaports were registered as good quality as pronounced by satisfactory
reports from NAFDAC laboratories while those smuggled through the land
borders were unregistered and largely substandard.
She said, “NAFDAC is poised to joining
hands with Customs to increase surveillance and monitoring activities at
all border posts to curb the menace of rice smuggling through the land
borders.“
