By James Adamu
President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has assured Nigerians that the passage of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council Amendment Bill by the National Assembly and its signing into law by President Bola Tinubu, would be a moral compass for the rest of the continent of Africa
Akpabio stated this while receiving in courtesy members of the Raw Materials, Research and Development Council led by the Director-General, Professor Nnanyelugo Martin Ike-Muonso in his office on Wednesday.
A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted the Senate President as saying, “if any of the values were to be added in Nigeria before exporting them, we would have had at least, a factory for those chains that would have also created jobs for our people outside what the farmers are doing. Technological shifts would have also come in interms of innovations.”
He also noted “that having listened to the leadership of the council, it means that Nigeria is renewing its hope in terms of research, local production, input and value chain, regretting that it is quite unfortunate that we produce cocoa in Nigeria but end up importing same cocoa products from outside the country at a higher cost and without any input.”
Speaking further Akpabio commended the Senate through the sponsor of the bill, Senator Onyekachi Nweboyin, saying,” I must commend the Nigerian Senate through the Deputy Senate Whip for the initiative.”
According to Akpabio, ” The most pathetic is the solid mineral sector, because we are not adding any value before we sell it, the result is you sell it at very cheap rate and if you sum it up, you will see that development in Africa in 2025 is still in a primitìve state when it comes to recognizing and utilizing the potentials available within his domain. Poverty is really bitting harder because of nothing, but ignorance.”
He urged the council to undertake major training, re-training and sensitization of Nigerians and children in secondary schools should be taught something about raw materials, solid minerals for recognition where ever they found one.
“We must not allow this to continue. If we now assist you by passing the Bill and the President signs it into law, Nigeria would have taken the step to ensure that whatever raw material is to be taken out of this country, must be given added value of at least, 30 percent.”, he declared.
Earlier in his speech the leader of delegation, Professor Ike- Muonso, thanked the Senate President for the audience and placed on the record the various transformation and progress put in place by the current leadership of the Senate.
“We have seen the reforms like the Tax Administration Bills, but the one that concerns us most, is the Bill to amend the Act of the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, which is primarily to ensure that we do not export raw materials out of the country without it having at least, 30 percent of value added. It is indeed Nigeria’s and Africa’s number one bill that will change the fortune of this country because Nigeria is a leader in the continent,”he stressed.
He solicited the support of the Senate President for the passage of the Bill and also requested his presence at the Africa Raw Materials Summit coming up later in the month.
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