Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, has tasked the newly appointed Executive Secretary of the National sugar Development Council (NSDC), Zach Adedeji to work towards the realisation of the Federal Government’s goal in ensuring self-sufficiency in sugar production.
Speaking at the inauguration of Adedeji as the Chief Executive Officer of the NSDC at the weekend in Abuja, Adebayo said the Federal Government relied on him to work assiduously towards the realisation of the country’s self sufficiency in the sugar production.
He noted that the appointment of Adedeji was based on his performance in his former positions, adding that the nation expected him to leave landmark achievements by the time he would be leaving office.
“You are therefore expected to discharge your duties in accordance with the rules and regulations as laid down in the Act establishing the council and other extant rules,”he said.
He urged him to create an atmosphere of a good working relationship with his staff, board and management to ensure a successful execution of his mandate.
In his response, Adedeji said Sugar is an important commodity in the global agricultural market, with an annual average production of 120.1 million tons, consumption of 118.1 million tons.
He said sugar is produced under a broad range of climatic conditions in some 120 countries and is one of the most heavily traded agricultural commodities.
“World sugar trade averages about 64mln tonnes/year and raw sugar accounts for around 60% of internationally traded volumes,” he said.
Therefore, he explained that his fundamental objective was to continue to work relevantorganisations to provide the desired support and interventions to achieve the ultimate target of 1.8Mm tonnes and with the private sector operators to achieve the targetted goals.
“We will continue to welcome the support of our principals towards the vision of attaining sugar self-sufficiency.
“I must commend the erstwhile Executive Secretary of the NSDC and my colleagues at the Council for the progress made in the face of implementation challenges in the sugar development industry.
“It is important to emphasise the need to swiftly address these challenges to enhance our justification to effectively reward non-performance amongst the operators,” he explained.
