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By Merit Ibe
An industrialist, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mallinson and Partners, Mr Afam Mallinson Ukatu, has called on the Federal Government to increase its support for industries, saying about 20 percent of operators in the sector have shut down.
Ukatu noted that with a friendly operating environment, the existing jobs will be sustained, while new ones would be created and youths will no longer think of running out of the country when they are gainfully employed.
The CEO made the remark when he bagged the Commerce and Industry Correspondents Association of Nigeria (CICAN) award for consistency in local tiles manufacturing.
Appreciating CICAN for the award, Ukatu said the honour will further strengthen and encourage him to continue in the business of manufacturing. “It shows that people actually appreciate what we are doing, irrespective of the numerous challenges confronting the industry.
“What CICAN has been doing over the years is an indication that the efforts of the manufacturers are recognised by a credible body that is in charge of reporting commerce and industry in Nigeria. It gives hope to manufacturers and other captains of industry that the efforts they are putting to reduce unemployment in the country are being recognised by a credible body like CICAN.”
He used the opportunity to call on the government to look into how it can help industries have access to forex, reduce multiple taxation so that more people can develop interest in manufacturing.
“Foreigners are in every business in Nigeria and they are doing very well in this our sector because they get cheap funds for their operations from their native country.
“They will not leave Nigeria despite the challenge of insecurity and others, because they have so much opportunities in Nigeria and they are making use of it. They have technical know-how that we don’t have. They export their equipment at zero cost and their government is encouraging them to manufacture to export to us. When they export to us, they also make huge amount of money from the spare parts we order for the maintenance of these imported equipment.
“So I call on the Nigerian government to encourage manufacturers to produce for export. The government has to make cheap loans available for industries.”
He lamented that some factories have shut down recently, while majority are just existing on zero cost, lossing money on daily basis.
“It is due to high interest rate, high cost of Forex amongst others. For instance, some companies in northern Nigeria and some in the South East that just installed new equipment cannot even kickstart production because of insecurity and bad economy, while hundreds of operators have shut down business due to low patronage and hash operating environment.
“In all honesty, about 20 percent of the operators in my sector have either shut down or at the eve of shutting down.”
