NDDC’s Giant Mill And The Rice Race

[Shola Sholaz]

She looked at the monstrous machine with sadness written all over her face. She quickly snapped out of shock and put on her thinking cap. Before her was what one could rightly describe as a sleeping giant, a massive rice mill capable of producing 180 tonnes of rice daily, lying fallow at Elele Alimini in Rivers State.
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For Dr. Christy Atako, the acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, something must be done urgently. In very few words, she made it clear, there and then that. the sleeping giant must be roused from its deep slumber.
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The rice mill built by the NDDC had remained comatose since it was completed in 2010 for some inexplicable reasons. At a time when attention is focused on agriculture, the new NDDC boss could not accept allowing such a huge investment to continue to waste.
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"We will do everything possible to ensure that farmers benefit from the rice mill so as to guarantee massive cultivation and production of rice in the Niger Delta. Farming used to be the major occupation of our people and here we are with a facility that can process about 3,600 bags of 50 kilogramme of rice. We are determined to re activate the mill," she said.