Members of the Poultry Association of Nigeria, PAN, have cried out for help as over N12 trillion poultry industry is on the verge of collapse.
PAN sent the 'Save Our Soul', SOS, message in a statement signed by the National President, PAN, Sunday Ezeobiora, and Director General, PAN, Onallo Akpa respectively.
According to the association, The Poultry Industry is an Industry worth over N12 trillion and provides over 20 million direct and indirect employment to Nigerians.
The industry has for the last five years remained the No1 egg producing nation in Africa and the No5 in broiler meat production in Africa.
The association appealed to President Bola Tinubu to reconsider and intervene in the recent development from the pronouncement from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, as it will draw Nigeria back to the pre-year 2000 when the country was completely a dumping ground for all sorts of imported poultry products, whereby it created room for cases of unhealthy frozen poultry meat stored with chemicals imported into the country.
The association pointed out that the implications of the recent policy of the removal of Forex and the further explanation by the CBN that the products were not even banned in the first place contravenes the fiscal policy stands of the Government and has obviously created an unacceptable impasse in poultry development.
They added that CBN's recent announcement further heightened the fears of poultry farmers and investors in the poultry industry and compounded the already collapsing production in the sector.
The statement reads in part, "The current reality and projections for the poultry industry in Nigeria are very bleak!
"The over 12 trillion naira Industry is about to collapse. And this will obviously result to loss of the jobs of millions of Nigerians employed in the Industry;negate the fight on food insecurity and growing the local economy.
"Most poultry farmers are failing to repay loans on facilities from banks for the expansion of their farms and of course the attendant toll on poultry farmers and investors that are thrown into confusion and out of business because of the current trends of things.
"Urgent action is required now; The Poultry industry in Nigeria remains a critical subsector of the Nigeria Agriculture, and allowing the industry to collapse on the watch of Nigerians in situations where there are visible immediate solutions will be a disaster to the Industry and the protein supply and nutrition security for the country.
"In the light of the above, the leadership of the Poultry Association of Nigeria requests the immediate action by the Government and prays as follows:-That the Government should maintain the import restriction policy on frozen poultry products and Eggs as any attempt to succumb to pressures from anywhere will spell disasters not only to the Poultry Industry but to the entire Nigerian economy.
"Immediate engagement with the Poultry Association towards making available needed raw materials like Maize and Soya to revive the collapsing farms as the Poultry industry is the most capitalized subsector of the Nigerian Agriculture.
"The Association request for an immediate funding program to the sector so that the Industry does not collapse and the country once more becoming dumping grounds for all sorts of poultry and poultry
products from abroad with the attendant rise in unemployment due to millions of job lost. These calls for clear narrative by the Government on the pronouncement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that restriction have been removed on FOREX allocation for Poultry products and other items. The gains recorded by the poultry
industry in the last twenty years cannot be eroded in a jiffy by market economy deregulation.
"The issue of multiple taxation on poultry production enterprises and products by the various States Internal Revenue Boards or Agencies be critically looked into by the Joint Tax Board with the possibility of abolishing all unnecessary taxes on food by either the Revenue collection Agencies or task forces. The Federal Ministry of Finance and
the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)have great roles to play in
this matter.
"That there should be synergy and fiscal incentive strengthening for strong consultation and collaboration among the various organs and agencies of Government and the critical stakeholders towards a robust planning, decision making and implementation of government actions. The existing policy ambiguities that tend to create acrimonies among government agencies and the industry operators need to be smoothened and strengthened. The Poultry Industry remains the low hanging fruit of this Government's action on Food Security.
"We remain the most commercialized sector providing employment office over 20 million Nigerians, providing the cheapest source of rich Protein to end malnutrition, assured gender balancing in the employment and provision of trade to women and youths, stabilizing the national food security of the nation by boosting the other sectors of Agriculture like Crop Production and agronomy, contribute over 25%of the Livestock Agricultural Gross Domestic Product of the national economy.
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