TheCable

Thomas Etuh, chairman of Fertiliser Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), says mass exports of fertilisers could begin in the next two years if increased production of the commodity is sustained.

Etuh made the projection in a statement in Abuja. He commended the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari in December, 2016.

According to him, the volume of fertiliser produced in the country has witnessed a spike from 5,000 metric tonnes before 2015, to about two million metric tonnes at present.

“Before the conceptualisation and activation of the PFI, we had a situation where there were 32 fertilizer blending plants in Nigeria that were moribund,” he said.

“Out of this number, only five blending plants were functional and even then, they were producing at 10 percent capacity on the average and that was because of excessive emphases on importation.

“This also meant, by its very implication, that we were exporting our jobs even when we cannot provide jobs here in Nigeria. Foreign Exchange that is scarce is spent building other people’s economies.

“It will interest you to note that in 2017, because of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, Nigerians consumption stood at 1,570,000 metric tonnes of fertilizer.

“This was the first time in the history of this country from independence. Can you imagine what would have been the situation had the country been importing fertilizers? And this happened without the government providing any form of subsidy.”

In April, Lai Mohammed, minister of information, had said the federal government planned to revive 12 moribund fertiliser blending plants in addition to the 11 already revived, making a total of 23 plants that will partake in the 2018 PFI.