The Nigerian Customs Service has seized a 20ft container of cooked and ready to eat food, like Egusi Soup, Jollof Rice, Ogbono, Yam Porridge imported from India at the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos.
The Customs Area Controller Tin-Can Island Command, Comptroller Bashar Yusuf who disclosed this in a statement on Monday said the container of imported prepared foods have been handed over to the officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control.
He described the scenario as an “aberration”, considering the fact that government granted zero duty for the importation of machinery for the packaging of agricultural products.
Yusuf in a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Command, Uche Ejesieme, said “Why should indigenous menu be imported into the country at a time when investors are much sought after to boost local industries.”
Meanwhile, the controller said the command generated N25.7bn in November, up from N25.3bn recorded in October.
Yusuf said that the higher revenue was recorded in spite of the recession and low imports.
He said that the command would continue to explore all avenues for maximum revenue collection.
According to him, this is in view of the exigencies of the moment, which placed more responsibilities on the service.
Yusuf urged potential investors to take advantage of the numerous export potential in the country for their socio-economic benefits.
Well said! The truth is that Nigeria doesn’t have policy implementation framework, for every new administration what we see is new policy.
To help kick-start grassroots innovation and manufacturing in Nigeria, the federal government should as a matter of urgency, ban the importation of all foreign luxury goods, including cooked staple foods and other food items we can produce in Nigeria and allow the importation of those items that would support innovation and or used in Nigeria to manufacture/produce the goods that Nigerians need and are importing now. This could be implemented for a 5-year term and discontinued when local manufacturing reaches a pre-determined threshold level or when we reach a balance of payment in export/import trade.
Those 10% of Nigerians who have more money to spend on non-essential items in foreign shops and can’t wait to spend their excesses on imported foods, perfumes, shoes, fashion, etc, should seriously consider the fate of 70% of their fellow Nigerians who are currently living in extreme poverty. Sending away billions of Naira to the already rich countries overseas, while your own people (they may not be from your immediate family but they are from the same Black stock as you), are scraping to afford one poor nutrition meal a day to feed children and adults, is shameful for our race. We should all be looking for how to use all the resources in Nigeria (both private and government) to empower all our people, especially the youth, with jobs and income generating activities so that at the end of the day, we can all sleep peacefully.
Eugene Nzeribe, Social Entrepreneur, Canada