Barely days after the Ogun State launched its brand of rice- Mitros Rice reports surfaced online claiming there was no rice farm or factory anywhere in the gateway State where the rice was being bagged while some reported that the government mounted sand bags with some rice bags as part of its pyramid. Some reports even claimed that it was not available in any shop or selling point for customers to purchase.
The sources of those reports will need to understand that we are no longer in the days of the ‘Invasion from Mars’ where some news sources can just believe their reports can lead to panic and successfully deceive members of the public.
Members of the public know better that they have the power to verify news reports in order to ascertain if they are true or not.
That is why it is imperative that sources of those reports visit the Eggua farm and others where the Mitros rice has been grown in the State.
Their reports have inspired me to buy the product as well as visit the Mitros Asero rice Mill where work has been on going under hygienic condition. At the Asero facility alone there are three rice mills. They also need to visit two major rice processing facilities at Asero in Abeokuta and Sawonjo in Iju LCDA. These are verifiable facts that cannot be hidden.
Although the state is in the process of selecting distributors for its brand of rice the product has been on sale at the Farmers Market in Asero and at the State’s Convenient Market known as Oja Irorun which holds at the Block D of the Government Secretariat, Oke-Mosan.
The state government has linked the report to various detractors who want to score cheap political points.
But this is not the first time some news sources have painted the State in such bad light.
The recent false report about the relocation of the state’s School of Nursing from Ijebu Ode to Abeokuta is one of different examples.
Instead of acknowledging the commendable effort of the government in getting the school accredited some online sources preferred to diff use the online space with the false report. Again, it is a verifiable fact that the school is still located in Ijebu Ode and not Abeokuta.
Since the source of these reports are utilizing the weaknesses of the internet to achieve their parochial and vicious interests it is important for members of the audience to be more careful at jumping into hasty conclusions but rather take the bold step of confirming in various credible mediums.
Wale Osunbiyi, [email protected]
