The Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria, PBAN, has threatened to withdraw its services to the citizens in protest of the unbearable cost of doing business.
While the industry is not the only victim of this, the association, consisting of owners, managing directors and partners of premium bakeries in Nigeria, insisted that the federal government give zero care to the survival of the staple food industry.
“Operating a bakery in Nigeria has become near impossible as the incessant increase in the prices of baking materials and diesel rendered the industry comatose. Bakeries are mostly running on huge losses and this is no longer sustainable.
“Bread is a staple food and one of the cheapest ‘grab and go’ food that is available for both the poor and rich. It therefore behooves on the federal government to be mindful of this and ensure the survival and sustainability of the industry,” a joint statement signed by the president, Emmanuel Onuorah, and the Public & Industrial Relations Officer, Babalola Thomas, read.
In a move to force the hand of the FG and ensure the survival of the Premium breadmaking industry in Nigeria, the statement made available to Freelanews disclosed that the association would be embarking on a withdrawal of services beginning from Thursday, July 21, 2022 for four days in the first instance.
“Where no intervention from the government, we shall escalate the duration of the withdrawal.”
Their demands that could salvage the situation included cease in incessant increase in price of baking materials, withdrawal of 15% Wheat Development Levy on wheat import by the FG, downward review of NAFDAC’s N154,000 penalty charged bakeries on late renewal of certificates, access of the association’s members to grants and soft loans being given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Minor, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) and immediate stoppage of multi-agencies regulation of the breadmaking industry.
“Our efforts to ensure the survival of the industry led to series of meetings with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Abuja (FMITI) with our sister association in the breadmaking industry in 2021. Our best attempts to ensure that suggestions we put forward for survival of the breadmaking industry has not yielded the desired result.”
For these reasons, the leadership of the association considered the withdrawal as the only way to get the federal government in order for the Muhammadu Buhari-led govt to know their plight.
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