Workers in the food sector have urged the Federal Government to ensure the availability of foreign exchange (forex) to the manufacturers to save the sector from collapse.
Speaking with reporters at a forum to mark the union’s 44th anniversary, President, Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), Comrade Jimoh Oyibo, lamented that employers were finding it difficult to source raw materials from abroad due to the scarcity of foreign exchange.
“Issues of forex are affecting my industry such that we cannot get it to use for important production. The consequence is what we don’t want to imagine.
“Already, one of our big employers, Ragolis Water in Ikorodu, has shut down due to the unavailability of forex. That means our members working there no longer have employment,” he said.
The FOBTOB chief said it was painful that manufacturers who sustain the economy could not get forex, but the dollar was in the hands of individuals, mostly politicians, who use it for their conventions and other political activities.
He noted that sourcing forex from the black market which most of the companies were now doing for survival, having been left with no other choice, was not sustainable.
“It is unfortunate that such things are playing out. Yet, we have a government. Sourcing from black market reduces the profit margin of the manufacturers and what that means is that they will not be able to meet up with their overheads,” he said.
Oyibo said the government should live up to its responsibility and ensure that forex is made available to manufacturers and not party jamborees.
On the introduction of excise duty on carbonated drinks despite the plea by the unions, the labour leader said the administration has failed not only workers but Nigerians as the effects of the increase cuts across several stakeholders.
“The duty affects our members who are producing at a loss, but despite this, our employers have been magnanimous as we didn’t witness any redundancy. What we did was to advise our employers in those companies to push up the volume to make up, but our fear now is the technology being employed,” he said.
He reasoned that the workers could not afford to lose jobs with the inflation that had eroded even the earnings of the workers: “This government has failed us from day one. At the beginning, we felt help had come. All of us should rise up to bring a government with human face.
“The fact that there’s no consequence for corrupt practices is what led us to this level. The leadership will need to change, so that at the end of the day things will be ok for our industry and our country.”