The Managing Director (MD) of Elephant Group of Companies, Mr Tunji Owoeye, has said the company would soon flood the market with its local rice known as the Elephant Pride.
Owoeye who disclosed this in a statement signed by the group’s Media Consultant, Mr Babatunde Ajibola, after it took possession of the Elele Alimini Rice Processing Mill in Rivers. It was reported that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), concessioned the rice mill in Rivers to the group on December 1, 2017.
The statement quoted the managing director as saying at the occasion that the mill had the capacity to process 210 metric tonnes of paddy rice per day.
He said: “Elephant group is ready to make effective use of the mill and it will be producing our own brand of local rice, Elephant pride. We will get our supply of paddy rice for the mill from the surrounding communities.
“This will encourage the local communities to grow more rice through the out-growers scheme, thereby, expanding the agricultural value chain. There will be direct and indirect job creation and it will also increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country,’’ he said.
However, Owoeye, said that the development would make positive impact on the Nigerian economy, added that it would also guarantee food security and support the Federal Government’s efforts to ensure agricultural sustenance and food sufficiency.
The Mill concessioned to Elephant Group has the capacity to process 210 metric tons of paddies of rice per day.
Recall that Federal Government commended the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over the completion of rice mill in Elele-Alimini, Emuoha Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr Heineken Lokpobiri, who gave the commendation during a meeting with NDDC and the Elephant Group in Port Harcourt recently, said that Elephant Group, an indigenous company, would manage the rice mill and employ thousands of workers at the facility. He then called on state governments and stakeholders to key into the Federal Government’s drive to ensure rice self sufficiency in the country.