The Federal Government said it has begun the revitalisation of the Nigerian Sugar Institute, located in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The government targets to achieve production of two million seedlings of sugar as well as train about 1,500 sugar industry players.
Mr Kamar Bakrin, Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the National Sugar Development Council(NSDC), revealed this at a media parley in Abuja.
Bakrin said, “When fully functional, that the Sugar Institute would produce two million seedlings to boost sugar production in the country, in a bid to achieve self-sufficiency in sugar production.
He noted that the Nigerian Sugar Master Plan(NSMP) which was launched in 2012, was designed to ensure that Nigeria attains self-sufficiency in sugar production.
According to him, the NSMP is targeted to achieve the production of 1.8million metric tonnes of sugar as well as create about 110,000 jobs.
He further explained that NSMP is built on four key pillars such as backward integration, fiscal incentives, project intervention and performance management.
Bakrin stated that the Council seeks to accelerate the attainment of the NSMP goals through strategic interventions such as increase output to match domestic demand, lower production cost to be globally competitive as well as maximise scope of sector output.
As part of his achievements since on assumption of office in October 2023, the NSDC boss, disclosed that the Council had attracted two new investors with a combined 20,000 hectares of land.
It would be recalled that the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) was established by Decree 88 of 1993, now an Act of the National Assembly, Act Cap. No. 78 LFN of 2004, Amended in 2015, to catalyse the development of the sugar industry to ensure that Nigeria attains at least, 70% self-sufficiency in her sugar requirement within the shortest possible time and even export to earn foreign exchange.
The Vision of the Council is, “To make Nigeria a notable player in the global sugar trade through policies and strategies that will transform the local sugar industry into a viable and efficient world-class industry as well as accelerate the development and growth of the local sugar industry to achieve national self-sufficiency.
In realisation of these objectives, the NSDC developed a road map called the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) for the attainment of self-sufficiency in sugar within 10 years.
The NSMP was approved by the Federal Government in September 2012 and its implementation commenced on 1st January 2013.
The approval of the NSMP by the Government and its adoption as the strategic road map for the development of the sugar sector was a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to leveraging agriculture and industrial manufacturing to diversify the nation’s economy and revenue sources in addition to creating employment opportunities for its citizens.
