A maritime advocacy group has raised alarm over the Federal Government\u2019s abrupt six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts, warning that the move could cost Nigerian exporters over $100 million.<\/p>\n
Initially praised as a strategic effort to boost local processing and increase Nigeria\u2019s stake in the $6.5 billion global shea industry, the ban has now drawn sharp criticism from the Save Nigeria Freight Forwarders, Importers & Exporters Coalition (SNFFIEC).<\/p>\n
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, SNFFIEC National Coordinator, Chief Osita Chukwu PhD, condemned the lack of prior notice, describing the decision as \u201coutrageous\u201d and \u201cunjust.\u201d He explained that many exporters had already secured international contracts worth millions of dollars, obtained loans, completed documentation, and transported their goods to the ports\u2014only to be turned away due to the sudden policy shift.<\/p>\n
Chief Chukwu emphasized that while he does not oppose trade regulations, such measures must be implemented with adequate notice to protect businesses already engaged in legitimate transactions. He revealed that over 100 containers are currently stranded, with exporters facing potential losses exceeding $100 million.<\/p>\n
He urged President Bola Tinubu to suspend the ban temporarily and allow exporters who are far along in the process to complete their shipments. He warned that failure to do so could be interpreted as a targeted attempt to cripple certain businesses and livelihoods.<\/p>\n
Vice President Kashim Shettima had announced the ban at a recent multi-stakeholder meeting in Abuja, framing it as a pro-value addition initiative rather than an anti-trade measure. He lamented that although Nigeria produces nearly 40% of the world\u2019s shea nuts\u2014about 500,000 tonnes annually\u2014it holds only 1% of the global market share due to the export of raw and low-quality processed products.<\/p>\n
Shea nut production spans 30 Nigerian states, with Niger, Kwara, Kebbi, Kaduna, Benue, Ogun, and Oyo leading the charge. However, much of the output is exported in its raw form or turned into low-grade artisanal butter, limiting Nigeria\u2019s potential in the global value chain.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A maritime advocacy group has raised alarm over the Federal Government\u2019s abrupt six-month ban on the export of raw shea nuts, warning that the move could cost Nigerian exporters over $100 million. Initially praised as a strategic effort to boost local processing and increase Nigeria\u2019s stake in the $6.5 billion global shea industry, the ban […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8488,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8486\/revisions\/8488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peoplesforumonline.com.ng\/about\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}