Worried by the continued delay of operations at the nation’s ports, manufacturers and employers of labour in the iron and steel sector have called on the federal government to consider a major reform that will guarantee efficiency and aid development.

They have also expressed concern over dwindling power supply in the country, saying this, coupled with the inadequacy of infrastructure, has led to the closure of over 200 companies in the last one year.

The economic consequence of this malaise, noted Kunle Obadina, chairman, Association of Metal Products, Iron and Steel Employers of Nigeria (AMPISEN), an affiliate of Nigeria Employer’s Consultative Association (NECA), is that many Nigerian companies are relocating to neighbouring West African countries, including Ghana, where the operating environment is much move favourable.

While speaking with The Tide at the association’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos, Thursday, Obadina decried “heavy losses” incurred by manufacturers who have to import machines and associated materials through the ports for their production, lamenting the attendant demurrage charges.

He also frowned at the deplorable condition of roads across the country, describing it as another major impediment to economic development.

According to him, “what Nigeria is losing as a result of all these is enormous,” even as he listed skill transfer, unemployment, loss of taxable money, among others as fallouts of the development.

Commenting specifically on roads, he advised that government should concession a strategic road like the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway in Lagos to private concerns on a Build Manage and Transfer (BMT) agreement, rather than allow it to slip into total disrepair, with attendant dire economic and social consequences.

An oil tanker loading petroleum products for export