In an attempt to cushion the pains of lockdowns across the country due to COVID-19, the Federal Government had instructed the Nigeria Customs Service to distribute bags of rice to states. But the rejection of the commodity by the Oyo State government on the grounds of poor quality has continued to stir political undercurrents. Fresh facts emerged yesterday that only Oyo, and not all the South-West states, would return the allegedly contaminated bags, fueling speculations that the matter has gone political. Whether the bags of rice the Federal Government donated to states in the South West are fit for human consumption, partially fit, or totally unfit depends on who takes the question. While the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) controls most states in the region, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) holds sway in Oyo.
Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde told reporters that the rice was not only bad for human consumption but “a letter has gone to Nigeria Customs that we are returning the rice. So, it is not conjectured any more. The process of returning it will be finalised. The people who were there saw weevils all over the rice. They saw the ones that were very bad and black.”
But the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Kunle Somorin, said the state was not considering returning the bags. He also did not confirm if the product had been tested and found good for human consumption. Osun State said it sent a sample of the rice for quality test and was waiting for the result. The governor, who spoke through his media aide, Ismail Omipidan, said a decision would be taken after the result had been received.
The Ekiti State government said it had no plan to return the bags. Commissioner of Information Muyiwa Olomilua said the bags were already in the state’s food bank. He declined further comments on quality.
The Ondo State government admitted it took delivery of 1,800 bags of rice and other items but has rejected some expired bags of rice from the consignment sent by the Federal Government. Ondo state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, has ordered the return of some bags of rice after they were found to have expired. Speaking on the development, the Secretary of the state palliative committee, Alex Kalejaiye, confirmed that some of the bags of rice had expired and were no longer fit for consumption.
According to him, the bad rice will be separated from the good ones and the good ones will be taken to the laboratory to ascertain if they were fit for human consumption. He said, “We discovered that some of the bags have expired and not good for consumption at all, so we are separating them from the ones that are still manageable for consumption. After this, we will still take the ones that appear good to the laboratory to test if they are fit for consumption.”
It was gathered that when it was discovered that some of the rice had expired, the governor reportedly ordered that they should be rejected. Akeredolu, who officially received the palliative items at the Government House ground, Alagbaka from the state coordinating unit of the Youths Empowerment and Social Support Operations, last week, was said to have expressed displeasure over the development.
Refuting the allegation that the bags of rice were spoilt, Abdullahi-Lagos Abiola, public relations officer of the Oyo/Osun Area Command, Nigeria Customs Service, said: “As a responsible agency of government whose function includes ensuring that nothing that could compromise the security, economy and general wellbeing of Nigerians is allowed into the country, we cannot turn round and be associated with giving anything that will negatively affect our people.”
Lagos State Commissioner for Information Gbenga Omotosho said: “Lagos State government has not said it was going to return the rice. The truth of the matter is that the rice in the majority of the bags could be eaten; the authorities certified it to be good.” Lagos is controlled by the APC. Omotosho said about a week after the rice arrived, the state government invited the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to look at the bags of rice. “This was because some members of the state executive raised the issue that the rice might have stayed long in the store and it (NAFDAC) certified that the majority was good.”
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned the Federal Government for donating the bags of rice. Claiming they were part of seizures by the Nigeria Customs Service several years ago, it said the government should have instead bought food for the citizens using the donations it received. The party, in a statement by Deputy National Publicity Secretary Diran Odeyemi said: “It is irreconcilable if, in the name of saving the lives of Nigerians against the coronavirus pandemic, the same Federal Government is giving Nigerians poisonous rice as palliative. We wonder how a government that claims to value the lives of its people will openly toy with the idea of feeding them with expired food items.”
Meanwhile, scientists have associated colour changes in stored rice and other grains with expiration and contamination by mycotoxins, warning that consumption could lead to cancers, liver and kidney damage, birth defects, and suppression of the immune system. Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungal species of the genera Aspergillus, Alternaria, Penicillium, Fusarium, Claviceps, and several others. Botanically called Oryza sativa, rice is a key source of human calorie intake and is a staple food in many countries. Studies have shown that rice, cultivated in flooded irrigation conditions and high moisture levels, is susceptible to infection by moulds and subsequent mycotoxin contamination. The situation is aggravated by inappropriate storage and climatic conditions such as floods and heavy rainfall at harvest time. Sun drying, usually practiced by most farmers, is insufficient to reduce the moisture content, making rice more prone to fungal attack.
According to a study, ‘Occurrence of major mycotoxins and their dietary exposure in North-Central Nigeria staples’, published March 2020 in the Scientific African, mycotoxins could be nephrotoxic (harmful to the kidney), immunosuppressive (suppress the immune system), carcinogenic (cause cancer), and teratogenic (causes birth defects in children). The researchers were from the Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State and Department of Biochemistry, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Kogi.
Also, a grain specialist and Vice Chancellor of Al-Qalam University, Katsina, Prof. Shehu Garki Ado, said many factors could be responsible for the deterioration of grains in storage. He said if the grains had been kept in strategic reserves, they would have remained intact and wholesome even without chemical preservation. Storage in silos could last for a very long time, he said, though there is a limit in the timeline before consumption. Ado said leased strategic grain reserves should be returned to the Federal Government and government should construct silos in each local government and ward, given the importance of food to national security.
Supporting the view, Prof. Samuel Olakojo, a specialist in grain breeding, production and post-harvest management, said because the Nigeria Customs Service is not trained to store grains, it should have moved the seized rice to the strategic grain reserves. One of the conditions for proper storage of grains, he noted, includes less-than-12 humidity level. If humidity is higher, moulds would form on the grains and dangerous microorganisms like bacteria, fungi would grow.
