The Federal Government has threatened to open the borders to enable cement importation if Nigeria’s cement manufacturers refuse to reduce the price of the commodity in the country.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Dangiwa, issued the threat in Abuja on Tuesday, saying key input materials for cement production such as limestone, clay, silica sand, and gypsum, sourced within the nation’s borders, should not be dollar-rated.
Dangiwa speaking at an emergency meeting held with cement and building materials manufacturers said the price of gas that manufacturers are using as an excuse was not tenable because gas is a raw material found within the country.
He added that the excuse of an increase in mining equipment should also not come up because equipment bought by the manufacturers have been used for decades and not purchased every day.
“The challenges you speak of, many countries are facing the same challenges and some even worse than that but as patriotic citizens, we have to rally around whenever there is a crisis to change the situation.”
“The gas price you spoke of, we know that we produce gas in the country. The only thing you can say is that maybe it is not enough.’
“Even if you say about 50 percent of your production cost is spent on gas prices, we still produce gas in Nigeria. It’s just that some of the manufacturers take advantage of the situation. As for the mining equipment that you mentioned, you buy equipment and it takes years and you are still using it,” he said.
The minister added that the border was closed to the importation of cement to help local manufacturers, noting that if the government decides to open the border for mass importation, prices of cement would crash and local manufacturers would be gravely affected.
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