- As FG’s N720bn debt threatens oil workers’ jobs
National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) has warned that unless something urgent was done to address the leadership crisis rocking the association, the Federal Government’s $7 billion cashew export target annually would be derailed.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Vice President of NCAN, East Zone, comprising cashew-producing states in the South-East and South-South states, Mr. Chuks Nkanele, declared that currently, there was a huge demand for cashew from Nigeria, but lamented that the country was struggling to meet up with less than one per cent of the demand.
He also warned that unless something was done urgently to curb the activities of foreign produce buyers that had invaded the country, Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings from cashew export would be completely eroded.
He said it was the duty of the government and the national leadership of NCAN to address the threat to the industry, but the present leadership of the association has failed to rise up to the challenges and is instead concerned about perpetuating themselves in power.
He disclosed that cashew was a major foreign exchange earner for the country, and the Federal Government, in realisation of that fact, had agreed to set up six cashew processing plants across the country.
He, however, noted that initiative of the Federal Government is currently under threat over NCAN’s crisis as the current leadership of the association has refused to step down after the expiration of their tenure, thereby usurping the group’s constitution.
He explained that in 2010, Nigeria was ranked by the Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, as the number one cashew producer in the world, but as at 2017, Nigeria has dropped to the sixth position.
According to him, foreigners from Vietnam, China, the United States, among others, have invaded the country, even the remote parts of Nigeria and are illegally buying cashew directly from farmers and even from women coming from their farms with the produce.
He said, “There is a cashew value chain that the government has brought out and this value chain states who plays what role from the farmer to the person exporting.
We are not supposed to see the foreigners coming into our local market but today, during the harvesting season, jobs of Nigerians were taken over by foreigners from Brazil, China, India and others, penetrating all the villages, buying from farmers, therefore throwing our people out into the labour market.
“This is serving as an economic drainage for the country. People used to survive on cashew, but today, it is no longer so. The country can no longer meet up with one per cent of demand for the cashew.
In the meantime, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has alleged that oil marketers may have concluded plans to sack their workers if the Federal Government fails to settle the N720bn debt owed the marketers.
PENGASSAN said this in a statement on Sunday, adding that the government’s settlement of the debt would not only avert the imminent sacking of workers, but also engender growth in the oil and gas industry, and develop the nation’s economy.
The National Public Relations Officer, PENGASSAN, Fortune Obi, signed the statement.
The debt, it said, “is the outstanding subsidy on the importation of petroleum products, accrued interest on loans from banks and exchange rate differential, which made the marketers to halt importation of refined petroleum products, leaving only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to do the business.”
The body said if the government was genuinely interested in the growth of the downstream sector and wanted to attract more investments to the sector, then it should settle the debts owed the marketers.
It called on the government to verify the authenticity of the claims by the oil marketers and ensure quick settlement of the genuine debts.
The statement added, “The government should try to separate genuine claims by the importers from spurious ones and pay them because we will not like to be involved in the mistakes of the past where briefcase marketers milked the nation through dubious subsidy claims.
“A situation where workers in the industry bear the consequences of the inability of the government to honour its obligations as part of the importation deal will be unfair and unacceptable. This is against the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration policy of job creation.”
“As a responsible trade union, as much as we will support any move by the government to end subsidy regime and spurious claims by the marketers, we are also canvassing the payment of debt that can hinder the growth of the downstream sector and attract investments into the sector.”
Obi noted that in the last five years, the workforce in the downstream sector had been depleted by over 70 per cent.
Vanguard with additional report from Punch
