The Federal Government has revealed that all is set for the revamp of the nation’s rubber industry.
This was revealed by the Minister of State, Science, Technology and Innovation, Barr. Abdullahi Mohammed, when he gave a keynote address at the National Conference for the Industrialization of the Rubber Sector, today (October 21), in Abuja.
In the address, titled ”Raw materials development; The economic imperative of rubber value chain development in Nigeria”, Abdullahi said the need to divert the economy from its over-dependence on petroleum saw a lot of effort made by the government over past decades.
“More needs to be done to ensure sustainable development and industrialization of the sector, such as the need for collaboration between government and the organized private sector, to develop the industry by setting up small to medium scale factories that will produce rubber into value-added products.
“There is need for rubber-exporting countries like Nigeria to factor in the execution of aggressive programmes which combine production levels and require technology input for the sustainable development and industrialization of the sector.
“The exploitation of the rubber industry is a blessing in disguise because there is not enough supply of natural rubber to meet global rubber demand,” he said.
Abdullahi said the ministry has an important role to play alongside mainstream stakeholders like the ministries of agriculture and rural development, as well as those of industry, trade and investment towards the sustainable development and industrialisation of the rubber sector in the country.
He called for access to technical information about sourcing, processing and utilisation of natural rubber through the Raw Materials and Research Development Council (RMRDC) and emphasised collaboration with relevant stakeholders in the execution of commercialisation of key innovations and research in the industry.
