The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) on Wednesday said that the enforcement of the ban on imported poultry products without boosting local poultry production would affect the nation’s economy.

Chairman, Agric and Non-Oil Group of the chamber, Mr. Wale Oyekoya told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that bridging the deficit gaps with supply from local poultry products was the solution.

He commended the ban on imported poultry products that had been enforced but criticised the timing based on local production deficit.

Oyekoya urged the Federal Government to encourage farmers through policies and incentives that would create an enabling environment for abundant production of poultry products.

He said that an increased local poultry production would force down the prices of locally produced turkeys and chickens, and would render imported poultry products useless and loose its appeal.

"For government to enforce the ban on these products when they are not sufficient in the market will definitely encourage smugglers to intensify their efforts to smuggle the items into the country.

"More so, the country has many porous borders which the smugglers can utilise in bringing in the items," he said.

Oyekoya, who is also the Managing Director of Bama Farms, called for government's subsidy in the agricultural sector.

"If the government can be providing subsidy for the oil and gas sector, I see no reason why there cannot be subsidy for the agricultural sector," Oyekoya said.

He also urged the government to dialogue with commercial banks to work out modalities that would make access to obtain loans and intervention funds easy for the agricultural sector.

"The banks in this country are not helping the economy; they are the number one problem of most entrepreneurs.

"It is only in Nigeria that our economy is challenged and the banks are declaring profits quarterly. Where will this lead us?"

"If the government can withdraw its money deposited in these commercial banks, that way banks will have time for entrepreneurs and relatively build up the economy," Oyekoya said.

He advocated that government should ensure that stakeholders in the sector had inputs into government’s policy formulation before they would be released to the public.

Oyekoya said this would guard against policy inconsistencies from the government which had in the past led to the death of some farms.

NAN recalls that ‎the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) puts Nigerian annual consumption of poultry products at 1.5million tonnes, while local production is estimated to be about 350,000 metric tonnes.

The Federal Government banned the importation of frozen chickens and turkeys in 2003 but since then they have continued to be available in major Nigerian markets.

On July 7, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) flagged off a fresh enforcement of the ban in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States.

Investigations carried out by NAN in some Lagos markets showed that the enforcement of the ban order has led to the scarcity of the products and costly when available. (NAN)

*Photo shows poultry