We Are Not Marketing Fake Rice, Gov Ibikunle Of Ogun Protests

The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, has protested the rumour going round that the rice which his government has since been producing is fake, describing such allegation as a deliberate attempt to bring down the market of the product.
Governor Amosun, who was reacting to report on social media alleging that his administration mounted sandbags with few bags of rice as rice pyramid to deceive the state indigenes as well as his gullible followers, said that it is wrong to deliberately run down the state by those who have the plans of running for the office of the governor.
The governor, spoke through his Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Dayo Adeneye, today, Saturday at the opening of the 2018 Media Workshop of the State House Press Corps with the theme: “The Role of The Media in Peace Building: 2019 in Perspective,” in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital,
Social media reports had claimed that the Mitros rice being produced by Amosun-led state government is not available in any shop in the state, alleging that there is no rice farm anywhere nor factory where the rice was being bagged.
The governor, whose lieutenants had earlier led members of the Press Corps to the Ogun State Mitros rice processing factory at Asero Odeda local government area of the state, appealed to the media to continue to report the truth no matter how politicians try to change the story.
According to governor Amosun, the yield this year will surpass that of last year because the farmers now know that the government is serving as off takers and will always buy whatever they produce and sell at N11,000 to the public.
“I’m just urging our colleagues, we were able to take you round and you saw for yourselves what obtains, you saw the processes, the farms, you saw the farmers, you saw how grateful they were to this administration for empowering them. They were also grateful to the federal government programme  IFAD, FADAMA for empowering them and helping them to achieve what they have been able to achieve with MITROS RICE. You also saw the processing plant, the rice mill, the bagging process and all that.
“Some people are just being mischievous because we are approaching election year and they are trying to score cheap political points.
“The social media can either be used either as weapon of mass destruction or weapon of mass development because people tend to believe everything they read on social media whether is true or not.
“So we will like for you to tell the story as it is so that these distractors can shut up. Is better for you to tell that story than for us to defend ourselves so they won’t say there is nothing to defend. You have seen that there is no bag of sand as rice, what you saw were happy farmers who are going to plant this year triple what the planted last year both in parboiled rice and Ofada. And people who are happy to buy rice at N11,000 of 50kg rice the same that was going for between N21,000 and N22,000 per bag over a year ago. Now the price has been crashed.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria Governor and the Chairman Presidential Taskforce on Agriculture came to verify for themselves. Rather than encouraging this administration to do more they think they can score cheap political points by de-marketing this state and publishing false and fake stories about MITROS RICE.”
The two guest lecturers at the workshop were Dr. Wale Aderemi, Senior Lecturer at Lagos State University (LASU) and Dr. Abubakar Kari, Senior Lecturer, Department of Sociology, University of Abuja.
Aderemi advised the media to shun sensationalism and fake news, even as he stressed the need for the main stream media to tackle social media which are sadly forming public opinion today.
He said that for peace building ahead of the 2019, a free press is key.
“As the fourth estate of the realm, peace journalism should be adopted as a framework like the Kenyan Media did. To down play all features that divides the nation, because hiring the side of caution was better than bloodshed.”
He said that the manner and language of reportage can be very dangerous, saying that while the truth should be reported the way it is, the language used should be checked.
He advised media practitioners to avoid taking side and promoting prejudices ahead of the 2019 general elections.
Dr. Kari described Nigeria as a conflict-ravaged polity that is characterized by conflicts, saying that media has been part of the problem rather than being part of the solution.
According to him, ethnicity, religion, interests of editors and complete lack of neutrality has characterized media report in recent times and called for a change ahead of the elections.
This was even as the state Permanent secretary, ministry of information said that the state government would continue to encourage national discuss that is germane to the continuous existence of the country, adding: “the media has a stake in steadying the ship of progress in the country. The media has a role to play in managing the perception of a Nigeria’s polity and those at the helms of affairs.
“How we present our stories will show if we are Nation builders or wreckers.
“We have no other place to go, this is the only country we have and the way we manage it if we will have a smooth transition in 2019.[myad]