The National President of Nigeria Union of Fishermen and Seafood Dealers (NUFAS), Alhaji Sani Usman Rilwanu has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give priority to fisheries sector as a viable component of agriculture and economic potentials due to its multi-dimensional value chains.
He made the appeal in an open letter to Mr President recently.
The NUFAS President said the Union is a conglomerate of all fish business related stakeholders, with millions of members across the country.
He said despite Nigeria being one of the richest nations in fish production, previous governments have not accorded priority to the sector for value chains and economic viabilities, which could be tapped into, to even become a mainstay of our nation’s economy.
He said their findings have shown that some Europeans are given license by Ministry of Agriculture for deep sea fishing, which their estimate indicates their fishing troller catches fish worth 50-100 million Naira in a month.
“Over the years, the Federal government has been loosing large amount of revenue and other economic benefits through granting licenses to foreign fishermen to fish in our territorial waters, while Nigerians import the same fish and it’s by-products they got from our sea into the country.
“In the same light, 70 percent of those importing the fish could not do so due to the hike in dollar/naira exchange rates.
“Our fish farmers across the federation cannot produce fish locally due to the high cost of fish feeds, equipments and insecurity at major water sides. While Borno state that used to give the whole country 50 percent of our national fish needs in the past has now stopped due to the insecurity in the Lake Chad Basin.
“As it’s now, Nigeria with a population of over 250 million people do not have enough fish (protein) for national consumption. Our local fishermen across the country lack expertise, modern fishing equipments and government assistances/intervention.
“Despite public outcry on the state of the economy, NUFAS is certain that some Tinubu administration’s reforms especially creation of Ministry of Livestock Development and Local government councils autonomy, would in the long run, solve the nation’s problems in making the living standards of the citizens better”. He said.
The NUFAS President said, the Union had participated in the 2023 general polls, at the presidential level in view of their understanding and confidence in President Tinubu’ Renewed Hope Agenda, hence their appeal to draw attention of the federal and state governments to boost fisheries and make it one of the mainstays of the nation’s economy.
He commended Kaduna State Governor, Senator Uba Sani for his vision to boost fishery production, processing and packaging by reviving its presence, being the Center of fish business in the Northern region.
“So far, the Governor has promised to provide training and other incentives to our members, which is noteworthy, commendable and would be emulated by all governors nationwide”. Rilwanu added.
