By Bimbola Oyesola 08033246177, [email protected]
Workers in the food sector have taken a swipe at the implementation of the Federal Government’s backward integration, noting that it is ill-timed.
The Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), at its 14th National Delegates’ Conference in Abuja at the weekend, lamented that the government action on backward integration has led to massive job losses and untimely death of some of the companies in the sector.
The outgoing president of the union, who also doubles as the president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Quadri Olaleye, said though the union was not opposed to backward integration in any form, its implementation was ill-timed as it has led to massive redundancy in the industry.
“I, on behalf of the teeming members of this association, using this medium to draw the attention of the government to the food sector in particular, and we request that the government meets with our employers’ association for engagement on how to move the food sector forward and a means of finding a lasting solution to the problematic issue of de-industrialization of the country,” he said.
According to Olaleye, between the last Delegates’ Conference in 2015 and now, the industrial food sector has witnessed redundancies in 24 companies, while 10 companies have gone extinct.
The circumstance had also led to the association losing 1,478 of its members.
Companies that the union had negotiated redundancy of its members with within the period include Pharma Deko Plc, Champion Breweries Limited, Nigeria Distilleries Limited, Nestle Nigeria Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Flour Mills of Nigeria Limited, Promasidor Nigeria Limited, Kaadan Nigeria Limited, Seven-Up Bottling Company Limited and Sosaco Nigeria Limited.
Others are Dangote Flour Mills Limited, Ragolis Water Ltd, Allied Atlantic Distilleries Limited, FrieslandCampina (WAMCO) Nigeria Plc, Ajeast Nigeria Limited, Guinness Nigeria Plc, International Breweries Plc, Pladis (A&P) Foods Limited and Nigerian Breweries Plc. Also on the list are Fan Milk Nigeria Plc, CWAY Food and Beverage Limited, Euro Global Foods & Distilleries Ltd, Deli Food Limited and Suntory Beverages and Food Nigeria Limited.
During the same period, the FOBTOB president explained that the following companies were shut down and expunged from the union’s books: Bendel Brewery Limited, Danico West Africa Limited, Jos International Breweries Limited, Pal Breweries Plc, Port Harcourt Flour Mills Limited, Scoa Foods Limited, Standard Biscuit & Agro Products, Jos, UTC Foods Plc, Vitamalt Plc, Ranona Limited and Deli Foods Limited.
Olaleye recalled the sacrifices of the members of the union during the heat of the pandemic as they defied the odds to ensure that food items were made available to Nigerians during the lockdown.
He said, “It was very unfortunate that despite the vantage position of this industry to our economical sustenance, it has not received 10 per cent of the attention given to other sectors of the economy. The production cost has gone up but nothing was done in terms of financial support and tax relief by the government to cushion the effects of this. Rather, we are subjected to different bans, ranging from accessibility of forex to import raw materials to forced backward integration.”
To address the challenges in the sector, the labour leader expressed hope that the Federal Government would change from the snail speed approach to governance, adding that governance is a serious business for serious-minded people.
“The government must urgently start addressing the issue of the growing unemployment rate, insecurity and the general infrastructural decay in our nation,” he said.
In his opening remarks, chairman of the event and managing director, Nigerian Bottling Company Limited (NBC), Matthieu Seguin, said the food, beverage and tobacco industry needed support at this time to grow and add value to the economy, considering the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the sector.
Seguin said the impacts were felt in the areas of reduced economic activities, shortage in raw materials availability, disruption in the supply chain, devaluation of the naira and higher import cost, among others.
He stated that the contributions of the industry to the country’s economy could not be underestimated, as it currently generates over 1.5 million jobs. He tasked the union on building consensus on partnerships by relevant stakeholders to accelerate the momentum of the industry in value creation.