The National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) has called on the Federal Government to provide a conducive atmosphere for local manufacturers to thrive.

The union’s president, Garba Ibrahim, who spoke in Lagos, said the reason the country’s local production has not been able to meet demand was because of the high cost of production which has been exacerbated by lack of sufficient power supply and heavy tariffs, among others. He stated that the setbacks were some of the reasons manufacturers have found themselves in the quagmire.

According to him, if there were sufficient resources and manpower to produce enough to meet demand, there would be enough to export to neighboring countries if availed the right business environment.

He also stressed that with the right business environment, the country would not bother about the importation of rice and other food items. On the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), lifting of forex restriction on 43 items and the impact on the sector, the NUFBTE chief, lamented that some of the items concern the food industry directly.

He said the restriction would affect the sector negatively, “because when the government gives room for the importation of food items like rice when we are struggling to sustain our local industries, we cannot grow.

“In Kano alone, we have about 42 rice mills in operation and there are others in neighboring states like Jigawa, Sokoto and others. So, if we lift importation on rice and it floods our market, Nigerians may not patronise our local rice and this would lead to the closure of most of our industries,” he said.

On what the union is doing to mitigate the rising prices of food, Ibrahim said the union has joined hands with employers to cry out to the government to provide a soft landing in terms of taxes and tariffs for the food industry to operate effectively.

He said the union has also urged the government to address the issue of power, stressing that the consistent use of fuel and diesel, especially now that they are expensive has continued to push up its operational costs.