The Federal Government says it is considering banning importation of milk because it can be produced in the country to grow the economy.
The Central Bank Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, who disclosed this while addressing newsmen after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in Abuja on Tuesday said the Federal Government would soon put restrictions on the importation of milk to the country.
Emefiele said that as at today, the importation of milk stood in between 1.2 billion dollars and 1.5 billion dollars annually, adding that it was unacceptable.
He said that he was convinced that milk was one of the products that could be produced in this country, hence there would not be need for importation.
“We have cows, if the cows are positioned in places without roaming around and they are given water to drink and grass to eat, they will be able to produce quality milk.
“The reason why some said our cows cannot produce milk is because they roam around, under the pastoralists arrangement, they will be at some places during the rainy season and move to another in dry season.
The Director in charge of Development Finance Department in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs Bademosi Tinuola, made the promise at the official commissioning of a garment company, “Xirea Apparels” by Buphalo company in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital.
She said “The present administration and the Governor of Central Bank are in support of local manufacturers. We believe in growing the economy of the country; we don’t want our country to become a dumping ground for all kinds of imported goods. Most of our industries are collapsing now because of indiscipline”
“We are presently growing cotton in the north. By October we will start to harvest our cotton to encourage textile industries. CBN imported the seeds and planted them so that we can revamp dead textile industries.
Culled from Vanguard newspapers andDaily post Newspapers
