The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh , made the disclosure in Abuja on Monday while speaking with youths in a leadership clinic under the auspices of Guardians of the Nation International .
Ogbeh who did not mention the particular country and border , said that shutting the borders had become necessary to encourage local production and sustain the economy of the country .
The minister said that a neighbouring country was bent on destroying the economy of the country and discouraging local production of rice , hence the need to shut down the border .
“ Our other problem is smuggling. As we speak , a neighbour of ours is importing more rice than China is importing .
“ They do not eat parboiled rice , they eat white rice , they use their ports to try and damage our economy .
“ I am telling you now because in a few days , you will hear the border has been shut, we are going to shut it to protect you , us and protect our economy .
“ You will start seeing all sorts of negative things on the internet .
“ Let me tell you why we need to shut the border , I grow rice , I was the first Nigerian to mill rice free of stones , if you plant rice in certain parcels of land, some poisonous materials get into the rice .
“ There are three kinds of water in their natural state; there is fresh water from the river, salt water from the sea , blackish water.
“ If you go to the Delta in many countries , in South East Asia where they grow the rice , if you plant rice in the same place like four to six years continuously , the quantum of arsenic begins to increase and arsenic causes cancer and that is what they are dumping for us
“ Some people say they prefer Thai rice because they are very sophisticated , welcome to poison ,’’ Ogbeh said .
He said that the Federal Government in two years reduced rice importation by 95 per cent and increased the number of rice farmers from five million to 30 million .
The minister said that states like Anambra, Ebonyi , Kebbi , Kano , Jigawa were doing well in rice production .
“ We just have to handwork you to prosperity otherwise , this country will not grow . My wish for you is to have a better time that we had ,’’ Ogbeh said .
The President of GOTNI , Dr Linus Okorie , commended the minister for sharing prosperity experiences with the youth .
Okorie noted that the leadership clinic was organised by GOTNI to expose young people to practical leadership principle for life success.
According to him , GOTNI is committed to changing the narratives of poor leadership in Nigeria by consciously developing the capacities of generational leaders .
“ A lot of young people are asking questions , seeking answers to their questions , wish that they have an experienced person who will hold them by the hands and show them the way to achieve success.
“ There are a few people that are readily available to do this; a lot of them are making decisions everyday on the basis of their limited exposure .
“ If Nigeria must make progress , if we must consciously build the next generation of leaders then, we must expose these young people to experienced leaders that have gone ahead for a conscious transfer of knowledge and experiences , ’’ he said .
Some of the youths who spoke at the meeting called for continuous mentorship from leaders , access to finance and low interest rates to assist them in businesses .
GOTNI is a non - profit youth leadership capital development organisation with a passion to nurture various categories of young people under 40 years of age , into transformational leaders .
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