The Institute of Export of Nigeria (IOEN) has said the wealth of the nation through the non-oil export is primarily controlled by foreigners.
Speaking at the 11th Induction and Award Ceremony of the Institute on Thursday December 7, 2023, Deacon Friday I. Uba said Nigerians need not to be poor considering the availability of exportable commodities abundantly available and the natural resources the country is endowed with which are being tapped by foreigners, reports Saturday Independent.
In his lecture titled ‘Tapping into the Emerging Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Sector,’ he said the foreigners are in towns and villages paying a token as royalty while the country is losing a lot of money in most of these transactions.
“The cost of most of these quality products are very high in the world market but tapped cheaply here by the foreigners,” he said.
In his welcome address, the Registrar of the Institute, Elder Samuel Adebayo Adenuga, also confirmed that Nigerians need not be poor, “since our leaves and grasses remain green but depending on crude oil export alone brought the setback, resulting into mono-economic nature of the country. The present Uni-federal system of government being practiced, is also not helping matters. Why should the States be going to Abuja for allocation? Why are the States not making use of the resources in their State and paying a certain percentage to the federal, this calls for concern?”
Adebayo stressed that before the advent of the crude oil at Oloibiri, most of the developments in the Western region were achieved through commodity export by Chief Obafemi Awolowo.
His words: “He used the proceeds to develop the western region educationally, economically and socially. Export required practical investment which Nigerians and the government are not investing on. They’re no new plantations; most of the trees are old, therefore less productive.
“Secondly, the farms for export produce and location for natural resources are too open to the foreigners. In the past, the government registered buying agents, who buy from the farmers and grade the produce. They also see to it that the commodities are well dried before selling to the buyer, who now arranges it for export.
“Hence, that great opportunity found today that favour the foreigners was removed because they now enter farms and deal directly with farmers thereby making millions of Nigerian professionals jobless. The irony of this matter is that even these foreigners employ our people for cheap labour to tap our own resources.”
He appreciated the effort of Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for providing regular training to Nigerians but said one day seminar is not enough to give a result-oriented knowledge on export.
“That is why the Institute started providing a Professional Diploma Programme on Export and Maritime Management to Nigerians at Yaba College of Technology in May 1991 to benefit those who wish to know the rudiment of export and result oriented transactions.
“Export requires practical investment with higher funding that must be protected, but the security today on farms is nothing to write home about and also not seeing provision for improvement by the government. For export business to take its rightful position in the Nigerian economy, more investors are required and more resources are required to be harnessed. It should also be noted that no investor would like to put his or her resources in a country where there are infrastructural deficiencies. It would be helpful if the present administration looks inward and provides the needed infrastructure for development to encourage investors that will turn around the fortune of Nigeria.”
At the event, new officers were inaugurated with Chief A.A Iguoba as the President, Engr. Matthew A. Alalade as the Deputy President and Mrs. Ibidunni A. Asaolu as the National Treasurer.
A new Council of nineteen (19) members with the following committees, Education and Training, Media and Corporate Affairs, Membership and General Purpose, Practical Export and Trade Policy Committees were also inaugurated.
The Registrar said further that the government is not giving adequate recognition to export business by not signing the bill 85 that established Chartered Institute of Export and Commodity Brokers of Nigeria (CIECOBON) that was passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly since March 2017 and sent to former President Muhammadu Buhari for his assent, which was not done before he left the office. He, therefore, prayed that the new President would look into it and assent the bill as a way of encouraging the Export Practitioners.
In his own contribution, Dr Adekunle Okubule advised most of the practical exporters whose products were rejected by the foreign buyers to watch their export processing procedure by sending quality goods as agreed and be careful when sending their commodities on F.O.B terms of agreement.
He said every step must be recorded and to be sure that all production steps are hygienic and of international standard.
