The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) is seeking an urgent intervention from the Federal Government to support the production of goods as diesel price hits N720 per litre.
Chairman of MAN, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo branches, Lanre Popoola, in Ibadan, on Sunday, decried the increase of prices of petroleum products and lack of power supply.
“It’s a difficult thing ensuring production at this time, as diesel has gone up to N720 and N730 per litre.
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“It’s getting extremely difficult to produce and I don’t know how we are going to cope because 70% of industries are running on diesel, there’s no light.
“There’s no power supply, we’re having 30% of what it used to be, whereas the disposable income of people is not increasing and the cost of products are going up.
“Even in my factory now, we’re only running one shift instead of three shifts of eight hours each.
“Other businesses are also running limited hours on diesel as they cannot afford to use generators all day,” Popoola said.
He said if the situation persisted, it could lead to bigger issues that would further affect the nation’s economy and increase the hardship of Nigerians.
“The worst part is that diesel suppliers cannot agree for organizations to make a flexible payment plan such as instalments, while they deliver the products in trust.
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“They cannot again supply you with diesel and allow you to pay in two weeks. It’s either you do cash and carry, or pay ahead, because they too cannot predict the cost of the product.
“And I don’t blame them, imagine you bought diesel last week at N630 per litre and the next day it is sold for N730 per litre, how will you replace your stock,” he said.
He said the way forward was for the government to come in and assist manufacturers by giving some rebate on diesel. (NAN)
