Bread Scarcity Looms As Bakers Embark On Strike

By Akinwale Kasali

Bread, a major staple for many Nigerian family will soon be a scarce commodity following the decision of Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria, PBAN, to embark on a nationwide strike over the continuous rise in the price of flour and other baking ingredients.

Recently, the association which comprises of owners, Managing Directors and Partners of premium bakeries in Nigeria had threatened to embark on Nationwide strike if the government failed to intervene on the issue.

Having waited this long for government’s intervention,  the Bread Makers said they have no other options than to embark on a four-day warning strike beginning from Thursday July 21, 2022.

The bread makers said the prevailing economic situation has  made it impossible for bakers to operate.

President of the Association, Emmanuel Onuorah and Public & Industrial Relations Officer,  Babalola Thomas, also demanded the Federal Government to stop charging 15 per cent Wheat development levy on wheat import.

In addition, they requested NAFDAC to review downwards the N154,000  penalty charged bakeries on late renewal of certificates.

PBAN also called on the government to grant members access to grants and soft loann from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as being done to other Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs).

The association  called for the stoppage of multi-agencies regulation of the breadmaking industry because “Operating a bakery in Nigeria has become near impossible as the incessant increase in the prices of baking materials and diesel rendered the industry comatose. Bakeries are mostly running on huge losses and this is no longer sustainable.

“Bread is a staple food and one of the cheapest ‘grab and go’ food that is available for both the poor and rich. It therefore behooves on the federal government to be mindful of this and ensure the survival and sustainability of the industry.

“In a move to ensure the survival of the Premium breadmaking industry in Nigeria, we have decided to embark on a withdrawal of services beginning from Thursday 21st July, 2022 for four days in the first instance and where no intervention from the government, we shall escalate the duration of the withdrawal.

“Our efforts to ensure the survival of the industry led to series of meetings with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Abuja (FMITI) with our sister association in the breadmaking industry in 2021. Our best attempts to ensure that suggestions we put forward for survival of the breadmaking industry has not yielded the desired result.

“Therefore, the withdrawal of service is the only way we believe we can use to get to Federal Government and Nigerians and let them know our plight and how difficult it has been with the breadmaking industry in Nigeria,” the bakers said.

Meanwhile, the magazine learnt that the price of a bag of flour which sold for N12,000 in January this year has risen to about N29,000 in the market.

A loaf of bread sold for NN500 early this year is now being sold for N900 with no end in sight for price increase.

The situation, many say, will even get worse if the war between Russia and Ukraine persists.

The two neighbors are the highest exporters of wheat used in producing bread flour in Nigeria.