This FG’s Rice

As you read this, each of the 36 states and the FCT is either waiting to receive or has already received the 20 trucks rice gift from the federal government. This distribution is intended as a palliative measure to cushion the impact of widespread hunger and economic hardship exacerbated by the steep rise in prices of foodstuffs and other essential commodities.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Malagi, said the federal government opted to donate the staple to states for distribution to citizens, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s desire to combat the seemingly intractable hunger. The government’s decision to donate 740 trucks of 25kg bags of rice to the 36 states and the FCT is seen as a necessary measure.

The past few months have seen more Nigerians thrown into the poverty net, with many families facing hunger amidst excruciating economic hardship, leading to a cost-of-living crisis across the country. The government’s decision to donate 740 trucks of 25kg bags of rice to the 36 states and the FCT is, perhaps, seen as a necessary measure.

What’s The Rice Worth?

However, this donation is like a drop in the ocean and is unlikely to make any meaningful impact. The gift is too small to go round those who truly need it. Providing just rice, which needs additives like maggi, salt, pepper, and oil to make a complete meal, is not enough to combat hunger.

It is doubtful if this distribution will positively impact the poor and vulnerable Nigerians targeted by the government. Many are waiting to see how this rice will be distributed among the over 15 million poor and vulnerable Nigerians, of which no fewer than ten million may be households. This gift is too small, and if the government hopes to score a political point with this, it should think again.

An Insufficient Measure

The donation, which the government expects Nigerians to celebrate, clearly demonstrates that the government is not serious about addressing the basic plight of Nigerians, which at the moment is hunger.

This arithmetic underscores this fact. Each state gets 20 trucks of 25kg bags. That is 1,200 bags per truck. The twenty trucks amount to 24,000 bags (25kg each), which translates to 360,000 mudu.

There is no state in the country has less than 360,000 poor and vulnerable persons. So, assuming the sharing will be done as it should—covering all those that genuinely need it—that will mean an average of one mudu per person. And then the rational question will be: how long will that one mudu last? What happens afterward?

It is becoming increasingly clear that this government, like the one before it, is utterly clueless and bereft of clear-cut plans to address the nation’s challenges, and is merely indulging in trial and error. The government keeps displaying its incompetence. How else can one explain the fact that the government is labouring under the delusion that bags of rice it’s doling out to some Nigerians are truly the solution to the current excruciating hunger?

Flawed Distribution

Everything is wrong with this rice gift. Donating 20 trucks to each state, when we all know that the population in the states isn’t uniform and the degree of need for food varies with the level of poverty, is flawed.

For instance, Lagos and Kano states have a combined population of about 30 million. As of 2023, Lagos and Kano States have populations estimated to be over 24 and 16 million people respectively. Yet the federal government finds it convenient to give these states the same amount of rice as Ekiti state, which has just 3.5 million people.

Assuming without conceding that the donation even took population size into consideration, the biggest challenge will be the distribution. It is most likely that state governors will largely target their party members.

Fascination With Palliatives

Clearly, this government, like the one before it, is too fascinated with distributing palliatives, even when it is obvious that this is not the solution. For a significant part of its eight years, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari committed huge resources to distributing palliatives and other handouts. There is no evidence that this made any plausible impact.

Instead, the distribution of the palliatives was riddled with allegations of graft. A court has ordered former Minister Sadiya Umar Farooq, whose ministry oversaw the distribution of these palliatives, to account for how a staggering N720bn was shared to poor Nigerians. Since these palliatives and similar handouts by the government have been abused with no significant impact, the government needs to change strategy.

Rather than donating rice, the government should focus more on prioritizing agriculture through support for farmers by providing them with improved seeds and other farm inputs at subsidized rates. It should also ensure safe farms since bandits are making it impossible for farmers to freely cultivate their farms. Nigeria has land suitable for rice cultivation. What is stopping the government from providing the necessary incentives—improved seeds, land, irrigation equipment, and others—to support massive rice cultivation across the nation?

It takes three months to plant and harvest rice. Cultivation can be done all year round. This hunger has been with us since last year. We are almost seven months into this year, how come there is no deliberate attempt to ensure aggressive cultivation of rice? This is a question for the national and subnational governments.

No nation eradicates or reduces poverty by offering mere handouts to its citizens, be it food or cash. Essentially, nations reduce poverty by stimulating economic growth and by doing so, increase incomes and, importantly, create job opportunities for the poor and the unemployed. Effective resource utilization is key in this process. The nation and its leadership have failed woefully in ensuring this.

Unfortunately, instead of reflating the economy with plausible policies, the government’s policies have forced many private businesses to the realm of mere survival as they are currently beset with many challenges. We are facing the impact of a hastily implemented policy shift without plans to mitigate the negative implications of such shifts.

As the states await the delivery of the free rice for onward distribution to poor and vulnerable Nigerians, we all must be on guard to avoid a repeat of the needless deaths the nation experienced during the distribution of rice palliatives in Lagos, Nasarawa State University Keffi, among other places where precious lives were lost.