By: Amadi Vincent Uzoma
The Chief Executive Officer of Nestlé Nigeria Plc., Qassim Elhusseini, has advised the Federal Government to diversify energy and invest in strengthening local resources to save the food and beverage industry from collapse.
Mr. Elhusseini, who spoke virtually as a keynote speaker, gave his views at the 15th National Delegates Conference of the Association of Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) in Asaba on Friday.
The theme of the conference is: “Saving the food, beverage, and tobacco industry from the risk of collapse”.
The guest speaker said the industry will rejuvenate if the government can build strong and sustainable infrastructure, and increase efforts to consolidate Naira while improving liquidity. He said the industry is facing various challenges including high raw material costs and increasing taxes. “Over the past five years, a number of organizations have had to leave Nigeria.
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“Analysis shows that many companies decline due to reduced demand for their products.” Increased raw material prices result in fewer product runs or changes due to price. “All of this affects the stability of the industry,” he said. He added that the government could also delay the implementation of all taxes, support the tax commission’s recommendations, and ensure tax uniformity across the country to help stabilize the industry.
Ismaila Abubakar, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labor and Employment, has called on industry stakeholders to review past practices and chart new paths for the future. According to him, stakeholders play an important role in shaping businesses, because their influence ranges from operational processes to strategic decisions, corporate governance, and revenue generation.
Regarding the election of new leaders, the permanent secretary warned that positions in the union must be contested by members still in active service. “It is unusual for a deputy with less than three years to run for a four-year position,” he declared. Additionally, the deputy immigration controller at Delta, Matthew Izediuno, spoke about the agency’s efforts to ensure that employers in the food and beverage industry do not abuse foreign national quotas outside.
Mr. Izediuno said: “We cannot accept a foreigner being employed in a job that Nigeria can do. “If we approve a person, it is because the foreigner will come for a specific time so that citizens can study them.
We also disagree with the situation where companies hire a foreigner to do one job and when that person arrives, you find out that the foreigner is doing another job,” he said. The Deputy Comptroller stated that it is undesirable to employ foreign nationals in positions that can be filled effectively by nationals.
