The Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, has commended the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Kamar Bakrin, and his team for the painstaking reforms they have carried out in the Nigeria Sugar Institute (NSI) in Ilorin, Kwara state, while calling for the commencement of its operation.

Enoh gave the commendation during an official visit to the NSI, where he emphasised the need for the Institute to become fully functional and become the driver of capacity development, technical expertise and innovation in the sugar sector, a statement by the NSDC said.

According to Enoh, as Nigeria continues to pursue industrialisation and self-sufficiency in sugar production, the Institute has a strategic responsibility to provide the required skilled manpower, research support and agricultural inputs necessary for sustainable growth across the value chain.

“I have found the NSDC Executive Secretary to be passionate, focused, and committed to achieving the set objectives of the NSI. The policy reforms, capacity building and infrastructural upgrade that have taken place in the Institute within a very short time are quite commendable.

“I must, however, urge the Executive Secretary not to rest until this place becomes fully operational. This is because the role the Institute has to play in our drive for increased local production and industrialisation of the sugar sector is very critical,” the minister was quoted.

Enoh reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to supporting the NSDC and the NSI in achieving their mandates, while calling for sustained collaboration and dedication from all members of staff and stakeholders to drive industry transformation.

NSI is a purpose-built national institution established to serve as the research, training and technical backbone of Nigeria’s sugar industry. It was incorporated in June 2019 and formally commissioned in January 2021. It operates under the strategic oversight of the NSDC.

Over the last two years, more than 60 NSI staff are said to have undergone targeted capacity-building programmes spanning both managerial and technical competencies.

On the managerial side, staff were trained in project management, stakeholder engagement, negotiation, conflict resolution, strategic communication and professional reporting – skills essential for coordinating complex, multi-stakeholder industry programmes.

On the technical front, staff received advanced, hands-on training in laboratory instrumentation, solution preparation, soil analysis and equipment maintenance.

Mr Bakrin and his team deliberately repositioned NSI as a national hub for training and knowledge transfer. Through the NSDC/NSI Boot Camp initiative, the Institute began delivering structured, hands-on training programmes covering sugar processing, refining, quality control, industrial safety, and environmental compliance.