Please Save Us! Bakers Implore FG To Help Save Their Businesses.

Please Save Us! Bakers Implore FG To Help Save Their Businesses.

Iexclusive news Nigeria reports that the  Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN), Abuja, has urged the federal government to intervene in the recent price hike of flour by BUA Group – IRS Flour Mill (owned by billionaire Abdulsamad Rabiu), Super Four Mill, and Golden Confectionery, claiming that the hike is killing their businesses and may result in the abolition of many jobs if no action is taken.

In an interview with our correspondent on Monday, Kabiru Hassan Abdullahi, the association’s national publicity secretary who also serves as the Kano State branch’s state secretary, claimed that the price of flour was N9,500 not long ago but has now risen to N16,200.

Kabiru Hassan Abdullahi

“The federal government should please come to our aid,” Abdullahi says. Our businesses are being harmed by the hike, and it’s unfortunate that they are refusing to do anything about it.

“The increment is over 50 per cent and it’s even more saddening because even with the dollar exchange rate of N1 to over N500, we still bought flour at same N9,500; but why is it now that the rate has dropped that they increasing the price? This is pure wickedness.

“What Abdulsamad Rabiu of BUA Group, IRS, super and golden confectionery are doing is unhealthy for us and the Nigerian economy. In fact, they are planning to increase it again by N7, 000. Can you can imagine?

“One thing they should know is that if we are scrapped out of the market, the rate of unemployment in the country will double up because many in their thousands will lose their jobs.

“We are still meeting and as things stand, we may have no choice than to embark on an indefinite strike.

If the flour businesses (BUA Group – IRS, Super Mill, and Golden Confectionery) do not reverse the price of flour, bread manufacturers and the Gurasa Bakers Association of Kano state have threatened to go on indefinite strike.

Gurasa is a flour-based Kano indigenous local bread that is a popular delicacy among Hausa people in the state.

The Gurasa Bakers Association’s chairperson, Fatima Auwalu, stated that nothing has changed since they called off the warning strike; rather, it is increasing day by day, leading them to go on indefinite strike until authorities and stakeholders take action.

She also bemoaned the fact that, in addition to the increase in flour prices, the product’s quality has deteriorated, saying “this has negatively impacted our business.”