The Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Zach Adedeji on Tuesday said, with the approval of the second phase of the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) commencing this year, Nigeria is on the path of becoming one of the leading sugar producing nations in Africa.
This is as he announced the ban on the importation of refined sugar into the country as a way of boosting local production.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja, Adedeji said, the government has stopped giving out licenses for the importation of refined sugar but gives licenses to people with refineries to import raw sugar to refine in Nigeria.
He said Nigeria has doubled its capacity for sugar consumption adding that government helps investors to develop their sugar industry by creating enabling environment for the business through infrastructural development.
The NSDC boss said, with the resolve to meaningfully implement the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan, the allocation of sugar quota to companies would be based on their Backward Integration Programme (BIP) performance, and not based on their refining capacity.
“Going forward, especially as we roll out plans for phase two of our sugar master plan, sugar quota allocation would be strictly based on the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) performance in the outgoing year.
“The era where we allocate quotas based on the size of refineries is over. The idea is to ensure that these companies get serious with regard to the development of their respective sites.
“One of the key reforms the council introduced, according to Adedeji was to bring in external resources to support its monitoring, because monitoring is key to the attainment of the objectives of the master plan.
“It will allow us to truly measure progress and take corrective actions if any player is not meeting their commitments.
“So, each operator has to submit a quarterly plan and we monitor progress against each milestone. But the wider vision is to deepen the industry and this will involve attracting investments and overcoming some of the constraints.”
He said the NSDC has started interfacing with some state governments on identified areas suitable for sugar cultivation to ensure the release of land and provision of infrastructure.
The states, he said are, Nasarawa, Kwara, Adamawa, Oyo, Niger, Taraba, Ondo, Sokoto and Bauchi, and to ensure that disputes over lands are resolved amicably, the council came up with the idea of a forum known as the Forum of Governors of Sugar Producing States which is headed by the Governor of Nasarawa state, Engr. Abdullahi Sule.
“By law, state governors are the landlords across states, hence our resolve to carry them along in our resolve to ensure that disputes over lands between host communities and sugar companies are nipped in the bud.
“We are also working with the Nigeria Ports Authority and the Customs to try and ensure that equipment needed by our operators gets out of the ports in time, avoiding congestion. This is because sugar cultivation is time-sensitive and delays in harvesting can result in losses to our farmers, which can discourage them.
“We are working with the CBN to arrange single-digit funding that will support investment in the sector. So, in all, we have put in place all necessary measures in our quest to revamp the nation’s sugar sector.
After rice and wheat, he said, the Federal Government considers sugar as the third most important commodity, which prompted the drafting and approval of the National Sugar Master Plan to ensure self-sufficiency in the local production of sugar, ethanol, animal feeds, and an increased capacity in electricity generation, and employment.
The sugar sector, he said, remains one of the many untapped goldmines in Nigeria, and that the sector is now well-positioned to provide direct and indirect jobs for millions of our countrymen and women.
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