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Workers in the food sector of the economy have charged the Federal Government to review tariffs and excise duties on food products to enable the masses have access to the products.
The president of the National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), Lateef Oyelekan, speaking on Friday in Lagos, lamented that food, which is one of the basic things of life, is now beyond the reach of the common man.
“Government will have to urgently review the tariffs and excise duties. The most important things in life is food, shelter, and clothing. But when the masses can no longer afford food, which is the basic thing of life, we can see that life definitely will become unbearable,” he said.
Oyelekan said government, as a point of duty, should review the burden of taxes on the manufacturers of food, as consumers would always be at the receiving end.
He noted that, with the current inflation in the country, most consumers can no longer afford Nigerian-made goods, hence the companies were not thriving, unlike some years back.
“Federal Government should look at the tariffs and excise duties and drastically reduce them on all these essential commodities. We believe that priority should be given to food, shelter and clothing,” he said.
He stated further that, “There’s need for critical appraisal of our tax system and that is why we are saying government should not think of increasing any tax, irrespective of the name they call it for now.
“We have a lot of companies producing, that cannot sell due to high cost of the final products, which is as a result of high cost of production. Government should save our sector from collapse.”
The NUFBTE president however, commended government for the border closure, noting that it had been able to make the food sector realise its importance to the country’s economy.
He said, “We want government to stop importation of food products totally. Food sector can meet the nation’s requirements. Most imported products are no longer hygienic by the time they arrive the country. Most of them stay over six months on the sea and are no longer fresh by the time they get here. But here, immediately we produce, it gets into the market. Government should think about the health of Nigerians and do what is necessary.”
He also called on government to prevail on local rice producers to reduce the price of the products to enable Nigerians have access to the products: “Government should appeal to the local rice producers to bring the price down to affordable price like N10,000; with that, two workers can come together to buy a bag and share it. The present cost of rice is more than an average worker’s salary of N18,000, as we are yet to receive the new wage of N30,000.”
