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Daniel Adaji
Nigerians are demanding answers after President Bola Tinubu-led government’s highly publicized N40,000 per bag subsidized rice sale came to an abrupt halt without any official explanation.
The initiative, which promised to distribute 30,000 metric tonnes of rice nationwide, has left many citizens frustrated, raising concerns about the integrity and transparency of the process.
Launched on September 6, 2024, in Abuja, the scheme was meant to provide relief amid skyrocketing food prices, with rice selling for nearly N100,000 per 50kg bag in some locations. However, after an initial phase targeting civil servants, the sales suddenly stopped, leaving many Nigerians without access to the promised subsidy.
Despite reassurances from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security that sales to the general public would begin on September 16, numerous citizens report that they never saw a single bag.
A resident of Kubwa, Abuja, Blessing Ameh, lamented, “Despite the promise made by the government and the wide publicity given to the intervention, we never saw a single bag to buy almost six months after.”
Government officials initially claimed that sales points were set up at select locations, including the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission. However, residents, especially those outside Abuja, found it nearly impossible to access these locations due to high transportation costs.
An agricultural economist, Tobi Awolope, highlighted the failure in distribution strategy, stating, “Accessibility is a crucial component of food security. If the rice is not reaching the masses, then the programme has failed in its objective.”
The Federal Government had promised a fair and transparent process, with Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari emphasizing that the initiative aimed to ensure “Nigerians do not go to bed hungry.”
However, with no clear explanation for the abrupt end of sales, Nigerians are left questioning what happened to the thousands of tonnes of rice that were supposed to be available.
A resident of Karu, Ibrahim Abdullahi, shared his ordeal: “I was at the Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Corporation sales point until closing time last year, but I couldn’t buy a bag because of the overwhelming crowd. The next day, the sales had stopped without explanation.”
While another ministry official claimed that sales were being expanded to states like Lagos, Kano, and Borno, no concrete evidence has emerged to support this assertion.
“We have not even gone anywhere; how can we stop?” the official argued, contradicting numerous reports of halted sales.
The cessation of the rice distribution comes at a time when Nigerians are grappling with escalating food prices. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the food inflation rate in June 2024 was a staggering 40.87 per cent year-on-year, up by 15.62 percentage points from 25.25 per cent in June 2023. This surge has led to significant price increases in essential food items.
Although the government announced in March that Nigeria’s food inflation rate slowed to 23.51 per cent in February 2025, marking a decline from the 37.92 per cent recorded in February 2024, the latest Consumer Price Indexreport from the NBS indicates that food prices continue to rise month-on-month.
However, the NBS report attributed the sharp year-on-year decline in food inflation partly to a change in the base year for measurement.
A market survey conducted by this reporter on Tuesday revealed that local rice, previously sold for N64,000 to N70,000, now costs at least N75,000 in markets across the Federal Capital Territory. Pepper has become unaffordable for the average Nigerian, and eggs now sell at N300 each, amounting to about N8,000 per crate.
With no official communication on whether the programme will resume or if the rice has been redirected elsewhere, Nigerians are left with more questions than answers. If the government truly intends to alleviate food insecurity, it must urgently clarify the status of the programme and ensure fair distribution to those in need.