From Abuja , Kenneth Udeh
A Bill seeking to end the exportation of Raw materials outside the country without undergoing at least 30% processing domestically scaled second reading at the Senate on Tuesday.
According to its sponsor Senator Nwebonyi Peter ( APC, Ebonyi North ) the bill seeks to amend the Raw Materials Development council Act 2022 to make provisions for Raw Materials Processing and Local Production Protection in Nigeria.
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In his lead debate Nwebonyi emphasised the importance of the Bill saying that it boost local manufacturing, enhance job creation and reduce over dependence on imports.
In view of the need to boost local industries and the reliance if Manufacturers on Foreign Exchange, Nwebonyi stated that the introduction of the raw materials processing and local production protection Act will become a transformative initiative.
He urged his colleagues to support the Bill;
“Promoting local processing to a minimum of 30% or more will add value to our economy particularly to our Naira and will also encourage innovation within our local industries as this initiative will lead to a significant increase in local industries.
“This bill, if enacted into law, will shield Nigerian manufacturers from foreign competition by regulating the importation of raw materials that can be produced locally.
The Bill if passed into Law will create a more favourable environment for domestic companies to thrive, Nwebonyi added.
The Bill received positive contributions from some Senators notably among them were the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, Aminu Iya Abbas and Deputy Senate Leader Ashiru Oyelola who all highlighted the positive impacts of the Bill in the development of the Nation’s local industries.
Urging the Senate to support the Bill, Barau Jibrin enumerated the Value Chain advantages of the Bill which he said will lead to the creation of more local industries and end the development of other countries at the expense of Nigeria.
He said; “People will be engaged, and the economy will become wealthy.
“We have the capacity, human capital, and technical resources to act on these raw materials and to process these raw materials. And by not doing so, we are undermining our economy while allowing for the promotion of other economies.
“This will energise our economy by providing jobs and promoting our real sector. Our real sector will be energised; we will go up and running. It’s very straightforward.
“With this Bll we are going to have more employment and foreign exchange. I support this Bill in totality, Ashiru also supported it.
In spite of the positive feedback, the need to apply caution was raised by Deputy Senate Minority Leader, Dr Lere Oyewumi, who observed that some raw materials cannot be processed locally due to the absence of local industries.
The Osun West Senator said that in as much as he is not against the second reading of the Bill the Senate should avoid granting it blank passage.
He explained further that local farmers may incur losses as some raw materials needed to be exported for processing in the absence of local processing industries.
He explained;
“There is need for amendments due to the nature of some products, we assume that all these products should not be exported raw , what about if you don’t have companies that will process them locally”?
“You can’t be taking grant approval, if not we are going to sub charge the farmers that have spent so much money to produce these products.
The Bill however was granted second reading when the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, put the passing of the bill to a voice vote, the majority of the lawmakers chanted, “Aye.”
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