The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Amb. Nura Abba Rimi, has described the achievements of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) under the watch of Mr Kamar Bakrin as commendable and impressive.
Describing the NSDC CEO as a goal-getter who achieved a lot in the private sector before switching to public service, the Permanent Secretary said Mr Bakrin has only spent few days in office, yet was able to onboard two new sugar investors with a combined capacity of 20,000 hectares of land, among other accomplishments.
Speaking while receiving the NDSC team as part of the ongoing briefing of all agencies and parastatals in Abuja today, the Permanent Secretary noted that it takes a lot of diligence and tact to convince investors to come into the sector going by recent history of uncertainty.
Ambassador Rimi also commended Mr. Bakrin’s ‘frankness ‘truthfulness’ and ‘forthrightness’ in spilling it all about the performance of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) Phase I as well as his determination to make sure the masterplan is faithfully implemented in the second phase.
He noted that the NSMP II goals which Mr Bakrin and his team are diligently working on are in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the Federal Government.
Speaking earlier on what he called his ‘modest’ achievements since his appointment in October 2023, the NSDC boss said the Council was able to onboard two new investors with a combined capacity of 20,000 hectares of land.
He added that he had been able to redesign the Backward Integration Programme (BIP) performance management framework to properly align with incentives, commenced revitalisation of the Nigeria Sugar Institute (NSI) in Ilorin to achieve production of 2 million seedlings and train 1500 sugar industry workers. He also said a revised NSMP strategy has been developed by his team.
He also took his host through his short and medium term targets, saying before the end of the year, Viable Land available should be 157,530ha. Other key targets include Land Under Cane (26,100ha); Sugar Produced (80,000MT); Total Installed Sugar Production Capacity (19,800 TCD); Outgrower Contribution (10%); Number of People Employed (22,000); Cane Yield (80MT/ha); and Sugar Recovery (10%).
In 2027, Mr Bakrin expects Viable Land to be 200,000ha; Land Under Cane (100,000 ha); Sugar Produced (670,000MT); Total Installed Sugar Production Capacity (50,000 TCD); Outgrower Contribution (20%); Number of People Employed (47,000); Cane Yield (120MT/ha); and Sugar Recovery (12%).
In the ES team were the Director, Executive Secretary’s Office, Mallam Ahmed M. Waziri; the Acting Director, Policy, Planning, Research and Statistics (PPRS), Mr Babangida Damare; the Acting Head of Procurement, Mrs. Affiong Onwumeru; Acting Head of Technical Services, Mr Balarabe Ladan; the Acting Head of Human Resource Management, Madam Okida Kaka-Senchi; Special Adviser to the Executive Secretary, Mr Teslim Bello; Mr Samuel Orhenna of PPRS, the Executive Assistant to the ES, Mrs Lade Offurum; the Technical Assistant to the ES, Mr Bolaji Tojola; and Mrs Edirin Akemu, an industrial policy expert working with the Minister.
