Renew Importation Licences to Crash Cement Prices, Delta Monarch Urges Tinubu

Sylvester Idowu in Warri 

The Ovie of Idjerhe kingdom, His Royal Majesty Monday Obukohwo Whiskey has appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently renew import licences to Cement New Entrants Forum of Nigeria (CNEFN) as part of measures to bring down the price and make the commodity available to Nigerians.

He attributed the spiralling prices of cement across the country to the non-renewal of the licences for the importation of the product, since 2008, 2009, to compliment the local production of the commodity.

The monarch made the appeal while conducting journalists round the abandoned multi- billion-naira Madewell Portland Cement located in his kingdom that was rotting away after huge investment by an indigene, Prince David Iweta, the President of CNEFN.

He lamented that if the importation of cement had been sustained as espoused by previous governments, most of the members of Cement New Entrants Forum of Nigeria would have been engaged in local production of cement by now and would have helped in lowering the prices as being experienced now.

He was particularly saddened that Madewell Portland Cement company, which provided over 2,000 direct jobs for his subjects and 10,000 indirect jobs for Nigerians, when it was established was now lying fallow because of inconsistent policy of the previous administrations.