Following the ban placed on over 41 import items into the country, the Shippers Association of Lagos State (SALS), has cautioned the Federal Government against denying importers of traded goods access to foreign exchange.
The association said the port system in the country has suffered tremendously from the initial forex restriction order on 41 items.
The President of SALS, Rev Jonathan Nicol, stated this in a statement made available to The Tide on Wednesday.
Nicol said many companies in Nigeria were already folding up due to the Federal Government’s ban on import goods, even as he warned that Nigerian ports would suffer further setbacks if the government adds traded goods to the list.
According to him, the ban on 41 items by the government has had ripple effects on most Nigerian shippers as the port system has also suffered tremendously due to the ban.
“If the government now places ban on some of the items that industries need to produce, because most of the 42 items already on ban have to do with Industries, so if the government wants to place more items on ban, it means that the industries will suffer.
“In fact, some of them are already packing up their loads because they cannot even sell their goods.
“I know one or two who found it difficult to import this year; their workforce is about 500 Nigerians, they worked three shifts before, now they hardly do two shifts because they are reducing.
“With all these, the manufacturers cannot cope because there is no income. Check through their warehouses, they are sealed up because they cannot sell their goods because there is no money in the country for citizens to buy goods”
“So, how many of the factories will survive if the government places ban on some more items? It means that our port system will be empty”, he said.
The clergy noted that most of the importers from the informal sector were still surviving because they sourced their foreign exchange themselves.
Recall that last week, President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop issuance of foreign exchange for food importation, so as to increase local production of food in the country.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had also announced plans to put forex restriction on dairy products during the last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held on July 23 in Abuja.