The National President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Mr Otunba Francis Meshioye has called on the federal government to subsidize electricity for manufacturing sector to succeed.
He made the call during the 27th Public Session for the the North West members of the Association held in Kaduna.
He lamented that cost of production is one of the major challenges affecting manufacturers in Nigeria, henced the need for government to address the challenges of multiple taxation and insecurity to enable it members operate optimally.
Mr Otunba Meshioye also asked government to make policies to mandate citizens to patronize made in Nigeria products.
Speaking during the meeting, a former Lecturer at Kaduna Polytechnic and also Public Affairs Analyst, Malam Garba Mohammed said manufacturing is the solution to myriad of problems confronting Nigerians.
According to him, there is the need for the critical stakeholders to pay adequate attention and make deliberate policies to support the manufacturing sector to avoid going back to the primitive age, where the country produced nothing.
“The reason we have Boko Haram in the North East and banditry in the North West is because we have a army of youths who are not busy in the manufacturing plants. So, the solution to these myriad of challenges of poverty, unemployment and insecurity is manufacturing
“Nigeria is the global economic capital and there is really no reason for any Nigerian to japa to anywhere. But, we must pay attention to the manufacturing sector to make it work”
“How do we do this? The American government gave a whopping $16billion grant and loans to the American manufacturing sector, we need to do similar thing to ours,”
Earlier, Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State represented by the Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr James Kanyip said, Kaduna State Government recognizes the importance of a thriving manufacturing sector to the economy and it is committed to creating an enabling environment that support the growth and success of the sector.
Malam Sani explained that, his administration is focused on improving infrastructure, ensuring a stable and business-friendly environment, and implementing policies that facilitate ease of doing business.
He further revealed that, Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency, KADIPA, is always working to assist and facilitate take-off of businesses in the State perticulerly from land acquisition, documentations, and all necessary papers works that investors may require.
“We are also dedicated to enhancing security, and investing in the development of skilled labor to meet the needs of the manufacturing industry in Kaduna State. We believe that these efforts will not only benefit manufacturers but also contribute to the overall economic prosperity of Kaduna State and Nigeria as a whole.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Chairman South East Kaduna Branch, Mr Raymond Anyanwu who highlighted the challenges facing the manufacturing sector in Nigeria, said most companies are fighting for survival instead of creating jobs and making profit.
“Some of the major challenges facing manufacturers in recent times include; the instability, inaccessibility and high cost of the foreign exchange rate to purchase raw materials and spare parts, as well as difficulty in accessing credit facilities from financial institutions owing to numerous and some near impossible conditions, and high interest rates.
Mr Anyanwu revealed that others challenges are lack of patronage from the government, high cost of electricity and unreliability of it.
“The new tariff approved by NERC for the discos has caused great discomfort for members as the cost of production has at least doubled for most manufacturers and the outages continue to cause losses of raw materials and man hours.
According to him, Insecurity has continued to slow investment in the North west zone as investors are too afraid to come, and raw materials for most of their members in the agro allied sector continues to bescarce.
“Multiple taxation and upward review of taxes continues to be a problem for our members,”
COV/AMINU DALHATU
