From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
Kano State Chapter of the Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria has threatened to shut down their operations in the face of incessant hike in the price of flour and other ingredients used in making bread.
Speaking to journalists in Kano, the Secretary of the association, Kabiru Hassan Abdullahi, said they would be left with no option than to increase the price of bread if nothing was done to check the present hike in the cost of production.
He pointed out that they had severally sought audience with the managements of the flour companies in the state, but the efforts had been unsuccessful due to COVID-19 protocols that discouraged physical meetings.
According to him, the price of flour has gone up from N9,000 to over N16,000. He, therefore, appealed to BUA Group of Companies and the manufacturer of IRS flour, to consider a downward review of their prices and also increase supply to the market to ease the present situation.
He said the association had mandated its leadership to meet with the grassroots bakers in 10 days’ time and come up with a unified price increase.
Abdullahi appealed to the federal and state governments to look into the challenges of flourmills, stressing the importance of the sector in provision of employment opportunities to the youths. “In this period of security challenges, allowing our business to collapse is dangerous,” he declared.