President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has been urged to consider crashing the price of diesel to ease the financial burden occasioned by the high cost of production on manufacturers and other business entities.

An Ibadan-based industrialist and first Deputy President of Ibadan Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Emmanuel Folorunso Ogunnaike, who appealed yesterday, while addressing journalists in his office in Ibadan, Oyo State, stressed that as electricity supply through the national grid remains elusive, people depend on generators as a source of power supply with its accompanying high cost.

He said: “If you ask an average manufacturer of any sort or poultry products merchant, he or she will tell how enormously he or she is spending on diesel every day due to lack of power supply.

“Expenses on diesel are really overwhelming on the cost of production. And the only way to assist manufacturers is for Dangote to do all within his reach to reduce the pump price of diesel. As much electricity supply through the national grid has remained elusive, people depend on generators as a source of power supply and this costs a whole lot of money.”

While commending Dangote for his intervention in the petroleum sector, which has translated to a reduction in the pump price of petrol and product availability, Ogunnaike, who is also Chairman of Folhope Nigeria Limited, an agricultural production company, added: “I am using this opportunity to appeal to Alhaji Aliko Dangote to apply the template he used to bring forth the reduction in the pump price of petrol to bring about a drastic reduction in the price of diesel as well.” He said if the AGO price could go down, industrialists would be relieved a lot.

The chairman noted that many industries were closing down, while some others are cutting down on production due to the higher cost of energy. He also called on the government to assist manufacturers and business owners to efficiently deliver as employers of labour.