On Wednesday, June 5th, the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) reignited the debate on foreign construction materials by urging a permanent ban on their import.
Professor Samson Duna, the NBRRI Director-General, believes this will boost the use of local materials and create jobs.
“The NBRRI has so far unlocked the area of road research and building, and we have come up with one of the best laboratories to measure soil, concrete, steel, and everything that has to do with construction materials,” Duna told NAN. “A ban would discourage reliance on foreign materials and encourage investment in indigenous products.”
This proposal has sparked heated debate. While some echo the NBRRI’s sentiment, others fear the consequences.
They say such privilege will be abused, citing how local rice farmers have been arbitrarily jacking up their prices since the closure of the country’s borders by the former president Muhammadu Buhari administration.
Ban is premature
Critics, like Mr. Chucks Omeife, former president of the Nigerian Institute of Building, points out the limited capacity of domestic producers.
He said: “The reason is very simple. Where are building materials producing companies in Nigeria? They are very few; a lot have closed shop due to the unfriendly business environment, especially the double-digit interest rate, lack of power, and lack of infrastructure to drive this critical sector of the economy,”
“A ban without industry growth plans would be disastrous for housing.” He further warned.
Alternative strategies
Mr Omeife proposes alternative strategies which must be put in place.
“The idea of placing a ban on imported building materials must be jettisoned for now. However, if the government is serious on strengthening local capacity, then it should put in place a plan and the process to do that,” Omeife pointed out
He further stressed, “The Nigerian manufacturers do not have the capability to cope with the demand of housing needs at the moment. They will need real-time to grow in capacity and to deliver good quality building components. “The major challenge will be in terms of pricing because of the high cost of power and infrastructure deficits which will ultimately impact the purchasing power of Nigerians.”
Balanced Approach
Similarly, Femi Oyewole equally argued that banning the importation of foreign construction materials in the country can’t work at the moment. “It will only breed black markets of imported building materials. The world is now a global village where everybody can see what is happening worldwide because of efficient information technology. “We cannot ask Nigerians with high taste and penchant for quality not to satisfy their needs,” he said
Oyewole said instead of the government placing a ban on the importation of construction materials from other countries all in the name of promoting indigenous ones, it can come up with a policy that will make all the tiers of governments in the country patronise locally produced building materials.
“Government can only encourage local building materials by making a policy that all government projects must patronise local materials as a respect for local content law. “Private investors cannot be forced to patronise low-quality local construction materials. To encourage local building materials, the government must do a social housing scheme adopting 100 percent local materials. Private individuals cannot start the practice because of stigmatization,” he said.
While acknowledging the need to nurture domestic production, most agree a complete ban is premature
