The  Chattered Insti
tute of Professional Printers of Nigeria (CIPPN) has raised alarm over the illegal importation of light packaging materials by some Asian Companies operating in the country.
The CIPPN, president and chairman in-council, our Wahab Lawal, said this last week in a monitored news in Port Harcourt.
He said such moves were militating adversely against the growth of the level printing industry, adding that it has rendered most printing press in the country useless.
Lawal noted that the existing ones were operating below capacity, and called for immediate reversal of the situation.
He recalled that the situation has brought a level of hardship to the operators as many could no longer settle the salaries of their staff and rent.
On their part, he said, the group could not address the situation, blaming it on lack of power to enforce law at some sensitive areas like the seaports.
He reasoned that like its members were allowed into such areas, it could fight for itself from such positions.
The CIPPN boss, noted that the Act that established them empowered them to advise the government on all matters relating to printing, wondering how such moves could be activated without proper integration of his members into some strategies areas.
In his speech, the groups General Secretary, Mallam Ndagi Abubakar, backed his boss’s argument, saying that the only penacea to its challenges was to have representatives in almost all sectors of the economy.
He explained that it would enable them to partner law enforcement agencies in curtailing the trend of piracy in the industry.
The areas they sought for integration include airports, seaports, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Universal Basic Education (UBEC).
The Tide learnt that the organisation was established by an Act of Parliament N0. 24 of 2007, with the task to regulate the practice of printing and allied body in Nigeria.