Lagos to overhaul Imota rice factory

Governor Akinwumi Ambode, of Lagos State on Tuesday, visited the Imota Rice Processing Factory in Ikorodu Division, and assured that the facility will be overhauled and be up and running within the next six months.

He said the intention of his administration was to intervene and upgrade the facility to a standard that will achieve a 10,000 metric tonnes per hour production of rice and also invite private investors to complement the intervention with an additional 10,000 metric tonnes per hour.

“That is the only way we can be clearly said to have intervened seriously and that is the only platform we can use to allow the inflow of rice paddy from Kebbi State. You will all recall that we just signed an MoU with Kebbi State and the intention is that we want a consistent flow of raw materials to come so that the era of importing rice from abroad would become a thing of the past” Ambode said.

He said aside Kebbi State, Lagos was also looking at possible partnership with other states, saying that on the long run, such collaboration will ensure that residents can consume locally processed rice within the next six months.

The governor said that a process to make the mill private sector driven will commence immediately, adding that a vibrant infrastructure that will attract the best professionals and experts to manage the facility would be put in place.