The Association of Master Bakers has announced its plans to halt its services nationwide.
As from February 27, the association revealed that it would be out of service as a form of protest against the exhausting business conditions in the nation.
The bakers association had made this announcement through its Kogi State Chairman, Chief Gabriel Adeniyi, on behalf of the National President, Alhaji Mansur Umar.
It precisely cited issues related to exorbitant taxation and the rising costs of baking materials.
The Association also bemoaned the “diverse increase in the prices of baking materials such as flour, sugar, yeast, vegetable oil, petrol and diesel caused by the fuel subsidy removal and forex deregulation.’
The union claimed that multiple government agencies, such as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, (NAFDAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, Consumers Protection Council, Department of Weights and Measures, and others have forced many charges on its members.
The association stated:
“The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria has expertly assessed the state of our business operation and therefore demand the liberalisation of flour and sugar importation, a decrease or total removal of import duties on major baking materials like flour, sugar, butter, yeast, etc as suitable to other commodities as have recently been done by the Federal Government and provision of concessionary forex exchange to flour millers and other stakeholders and also a reduction of tariff on imported wheat and sugar.”The association finally asked for a “prompt execution of financial assistance measures for bakers as part of thr post-COVID-19 assistance initiatives for small and medium-sized ventures in the baking industry, particularly for those who have experienced a decline of over 40% in their membership.”
