Following her independence and the attendant boom in the industrial sector, Nigeria held great promise as a developing nation. One of the sub-sectors that enjoyed the growing boom at the time was the paper and allied products sector.
And on the strength of the volume of raw materials required to service the burgeoning paper factories, which were sourced overseas, the idea of establishing paper mills became novel.
WITH a growing and viable newspaper industry, a vibrant book and publishing industry, a multifarious printing industry and the litany of allied paper products segment, Nigeria, rather than source from local mills, now depend heavily on foreign manufacturers for her paper needs, spending huge foreign exchange in the process.
Commenting on the mills, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adebayo Adeniyi noted that the industry was suffering from lack of robust and adequate guidelines for the development of the sector in Nigeria. He disclosed that the sector needs fund injection, stressing that the new owners are in dire need of capital for the resuscitation and procurement of new equipment and technologies.
Azeez observed that a situation where over 80 per cent of primary, secondary and tertiary institutions’ text books were printed outside the country because the duty on the importation of published books is zero per cent, while the duty on importation of paper, as raw materials, is up to 30 per cent, was worrisome and discourages local patronage.
Despite the commissioning of the first phase of the mill in 1994 as a result of the joint venture collaboration with Wittermore Paterson Investment BV of Germany, no production took place. There were efforts to run the mill on imported raw materials on one of the paper machines, but to no avail as inadequate electricity supply stalled the process in 1998.
However, due to diverse unresolved issues, especially the forestry plantations concession license, the company refrained from paying the ‘bid price’ and in the process, it took the Federal Government to court to restrain the Bureau of Public Enterprise from annulling the sale and realising the bid bond of $750,000 without resolving the outstanding issues.
One key challenge faced by the investors was their inability to source long fibre trees. This was a major problem the plant may likely continue to face even after becoming fully operational, as they are totally dependent on imported long fiber pulp and chemicals, which might not help in reducing the cost of local paper products.
On how the company was able to pay salaries and maintain minor operations despite these challenges, the source said it was from owner’s purse. He noted that years back when the company was fully operational, the community market always enjoyed good patronage from the company’s workers, but since the problem started, the market has shut down. He added that every last Friday of the month always looked like a festive period, as the workers celebrated whenever they received their salaries.
A visit to NNMC, Oku Iboku, reveals a monument almost with no roofs and vandalised office blocks. The company came into limelight in 1986, but was liquidated in 2008. It was set up to produce 100,000 metric tons of finished newsprint per annum. Within the period the mill was in operation, it employed over 2,000 Nigerians and expatriates, with its forestry division employing more than half the number.
The Guardian gathered that Oku Iboku is in a serious boundary dispute with its neighbour, Ikot Offiong in Odukpani local government council in Cross River State. A source alleged that when the House Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation visited the company early this year, the community accused Negris of assets stripping.Built and originally owned by Nigerians, the paper mill was the largest in West Africa.
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