Borrowing, not solution to Nigeria’s problem- Umeofia

Chief Executive Officer of Erisco foods, Chief Erick Umeofia, has cried out that borrowing is not a solution to Nigeria’s problem, insisting that buying made-in-Nigeria is the only way out of the current economic predicaments of the nation.

Umeofia, who made this declaration in a press briefing in Lagos, lamented the manipulations and frustrations going on in the economy to the disadvantage of indigenous manufacturers by the Central Bank of Nigeria, NAFDAC and some other MDAs.

He said: “The fact that CBN refused to give us enough forex allocation for importation of raw material and machinery is the reason our factory is running below 20 percent of its installed capacity since inception.

The best they have done in recent time is to allocate a minute amount of forex requested by us for 30, 45 and 60 days (future) after waiting for a period of four to five months without any forex allocation at all, while our naira is held for the period without interest.

“The present forex allocation mechanism has been too expensive and costly to all genuine indigenous manufacturers. For instance, at the beginning of each forex bid process, our bankers based on CBN policies will debit our account with the entire naira equivalence and transfer same to CBN in order to fund our forex retail window bids.

After about 7 – 14 days, the result of the bid is released; CBN allocates only a fraction of our forex bid request on 60 days future basis. This is excluding the two weeks period for the bid making it a total of about 74 – 90 days.”

He regretted that Erisco Foods and other manufacturers pay huge interest to their bankers for this period of about 74 – 90 days, stressing that the fraudulent practices of the apex bank in the nature of the forex futures it operates, delay the full cycle for any transaction to about five – six months.

He expressed shock that a foreign company who recently claimed to have built the biggest feed mill in Nigeria was allowed to import ship loads of maize, arguing that it is non-perishable and can be conveniently grown or sourced in the country within three months.

He maintained that this act is detrimental to the healthy growth of local farmers, adding that smaller feed mill plants patronise local farmers to the benefit of our economy.

“Why was this company not compelled by the system to do the same? The importation of maize by this foreign company amounts to economic sabotage.

The way rice farmers were encouraged to grow locally; this company ought to have been encouraged by the system to grow their maize locally knowing full well from inception that they would need maize as their raw material with our vast fertile land.

“No wonder, Alhaji Dangote said ‘if air is to be imported, Nigeria will prefer to import air’.

Incidentally the same Dangote in one of his interviews confirmed that former President Olusegun Obasanjo tasked him to help Nigeria to stop the importation of cement into the country, and the task was accomplished with the support of the government.

Even the intervention fund by the CBN is mostly enjoyed by foreigners to the detriment of indigenous manufacturers,” he pointed out.