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Christopher Oji
Stakeholders in Nigeria fishery industry have called on the Lagos State House of Assembly to make an enquiry into ongoing harmful trade by a multinational company with its headquarters in Conakry.
The stakeholders alleged that the multinational company’s trade activities were a threat to the welfare of Nigerians and constitute a breach of the Local Content Act 2010.
In a petition addressed to Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, signed by Buna Ishaq of Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA), the stakeholders lamented that the multinational company has embarked on injurious practice by going directly into the retail market to sell and compete with the same middlemen who have been the off-takers of its product, thereby putting their means of livelihood in jeopardy.
They said the company’s aim was to force Nigerian businessmen in the industry out of business and replace them by imported businesses and labour.
“This is nothing but a combination of economic exploitation and colonisation of the Nigerian market in areas that are envisaged as exclusive preserve of Nigerians going by the Local Content Act 2010 as enacted by the National Assembly.
“We write your hallowed chamber owing to the centrality of Lagos State in the entire fish and fisheries industry (first, as port of landing/destination), and also because Lagos State stands to be at the receiving end of the social vices which this threat to the livelihood of many Nigerians would eventually unleash as more homes are driven into poverty -the number one precursor of insecurity.
“Needless to say, this matter requires your utmost attention and swift intervention as Nigerians are being short-changed from both ends; with Nigerian businessmen who have hitherto provided the company with its working capital through pre-paid arrangement for supply of goods, are driven out, while the company makes excess profit through its direct participation at the retailing level. The implications for the Nigerian economy and Nigerians in the sector are dire and will eventually de-empower, de-tool and swell up the ranks of the unemployed in Nigeria with a corresponding loss of household incomes.”
The stakeholders called for immediate closure of all retail outlets of the company in Lagos and the restoration of the network and infrastructure built over the years by Nigerian businesses which the organisation is scheming to hijack through the enforcement of the provisions of the Local Content Act 2010 and the invocation of relevant laws of Lagos State to fully restore the rights of those Nigerian businesses without any form of backlash from the company which may prejudice their access to full participation in the sector.
