Residents in Ikorodu division have appealed to the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, to review the process of the sale of the Lake Rice in the division to enable them purchase the rice without going through much stress and hassles.
This appeal came on the heel of the alleged difficulties and stress that characterized the sale of the rice at the only purchase centre in Ikorodu division, situated within the premises of the farm settlement in Odogunyan. The sale of the rice, which is a joint venture between the Lagos and Kebbi State governments, commenced on Thursday, December 22, 2016 across the state at a relatively affordable rate of twelve thousand naira (N12,000) for Lagosians to provide a convenient alternative to the imported rice, which prices keep increasing due to the current recession in the country.
But while there have been success stories regarding the sales of the rice from other sales centres across the state, the situation at Ikorodu is pathetic as buyers were reported to have been subjected to harrowing experience in the cause of purchasing the Lake rice.
According to the report gathered, on the first day the sale of the rice commenced, residents, who had arrived the sale centre as early as 6.00am to purchase the rice, were directed to make their payment at the Zenith bank though there was no prior information to that effect, but the residents, due to their resolve to buy the rice, complied with the instruction.
After spending several hours at the bank and returning in batches to the sales centre with their tellers, they were subjected to more hours on the queue while the sale officials awaited bank confirmation for their payment.
And after spending the whole day enduring the tedious process, only a fraction of the large number of residents, who had made the payment, were lucky enough to get the rice as others went home disappointed because they were asked to come back the following day.
It was also learnt that despite the use of Point of Sale Machines (POS) to facilitate easy payment when it was discovered that the bank payment was not convenient to the people, the process was still far from being better as people still got stranded on the long queue due to the slow process of registration and payment.
It was also gathered that the use of one location as the only sales centre to serve the six local councils in the division contributed tremendously to the stress and difficulties being experienced by the residents as sales officials finds it difficult to cope with the huge number of buyers that besiege the center on daily basis. Also, despite the state government’s policy of ‘one bag per person’, some rich people have been buying more than one bag with the connivance of some sales officials while some powerful residents have also been accused of bringing people to the sales point to answer fake names on the buyers’ list in a bid to acquire more than one bag of rice to the detriment of the majority on queue, who were unable to find their names on the list.
When Oriwu Sun visited the sales centre on December 29 and 30, 2016 to observe the sale process and to also investigate some of the challenges militating against the smooth sales of the Lake rice, it was found out that there were three queues on ground, which intending buyers must pass through to buy the rice.
The first queue was at the main entrance, where a large number of residents, including elderly persons, were struggling with one another to be given number by some sales officials to enable them join the next queue inside the main premises, where they would fill out some forms and make payment for the rice. The last queue was located at the main entrance of the store, where the bag of rice is being handed over to the buyers.
But despite the orderliness of the process, many intending buyers, particularly those on the first queue, lamented that the process was very slow and time consuming due to the large number of people being attended to at the centre. They also decried the attitude of some of their fellow buyers, who as a result of their closeness or relationship with some of the sales officials, jumped the queue to make purchase for the rice while others watched helplessly.
While speaking briefly with Oriwu Sun at the main entrance of the centre, a woman, who did not want her name in print, narrated a scenario involving a lady, who drove up to the gate in a Pathfinder Jeep and requested entry into the premises while a lot of people were still outside waiting be called in. Upon seeing the resistance by those on the queue, the lady quickly made a call with her mobile phone and within a few minutes, an official showed up at the gate and demanded that she should be granted entry amidst protests, angry grumbles and intermittent curses from those, who have been made to stand in the sun.
The lady zoomed in and parked under a tree. While many of those on the queue thought she must be an official of Lagos State or she must have been in the premises for other reasons, the lady, to the utter surprise of everybody, alighted from her vehicle and made her way to the queue of those making payments to pay and made away with three (3) bags of rice.
Another resident, Mr. Hakeem Adeoye, in his own reaction, commended Governor Ambode for procuring the Lake rice to assist the masses but decried the use of one sales centre in the division, which according to him, is responsible for the congestion and waste of time being experienced by residents.
According to him, the state government should, as a matter of urgency, provide sales centres in each of the six local councils in the division to decongest the one at the Odogunyan Farm Settlement, and to also enable intending buyers the comfort of buying the rice at their respective local council areas instead of coming down to Odongunyan.
Mrs. Folake Fasanmi, while corroborating Adeoye’s statement, explained that many residents have been visiting the sales center at the Farm Settlement for several days but have not been able to get the rice despite spending several hours on the queue due to overcrowdings, adding that the need to fill forms before making payment for the rice are part of the reasons the process is slow. She urged the state government to provide more sales centres across the division to enable more residents have easy access to the rice, and also suggested the use of the Lagos State Residents’ Registration Agency (LASFRRA) cards as requirement to buy the rice instead of filling of forms, which delay the people on the queue unnecessarily.
Another resident, Miss Angela Chibuzor, accused the sales officials of conniving with some people to sabotage the state government’s directive of “One bag per person”. According to her, despite the rule that no person should buy more than one bag of the Lake rice, some people have been colluding with the sales officials to get more than one bag from the sales centres. She, however, urged the state government to deploy security personnel to the centre to ensure that both the sales officials and buyers comply with the rules guiding the sale of the rice.
However, in an interview with one of the officials at the sales centre, Mr. Akintunde Adeyemi, a staff of the Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, he said the sales process of the Lake Rice at the centre has been impressive and going on smoothly since its commencement on December 22, 2016.
He explained that more than 130,000 bags of Lake rice are going to be sold across different zones in the state, adding that out of the over 6,000 bags expected to be sold at the Ikorodu sale centre, 50% sales has already been achieved as at December 29, 2016.
But while Mr. Adeyemi was about to respond to a question on the allegation that some sales officials at the centre are colluding with some buyers to get more than one bag of the rice, another official, who claimed to be a media practitioner, interrupted him and disrupted the interview session on the excuse that our reporters did not seek his consent before interviewing the officials. He consequently told Mr. Adeyemi, who had earlier been receptive to our reporters and other officials, not to grant any further interview to our reporters. The same man almost beat up one of our reporters while he was trying to take the pictures of the bags of the Lake rice where they were being displayed.
With this kind of hostile and senseless behaviour by a man, who by the virtue of his position as a sales official should freely grant information to the media on the activities at the centre, coupled with the allegations that some sales officials at the Ikorodu sales centers cannot be trusted with the process, Oriwu Sun is joining other concerned residents to urge the state government to beam its searchlight on the Farm Settlement Sales Centre in Odogunyan area of Ikorodu and ensure that any official working against the process of ensuring proper sales of the Lake rice to the public is brought to book