16th Sep 2014 And Ventures Africa informs us that Nigerians are up in arms with the news that the federal government might be contemplating a ban of a popular local delicacy called ponmo, made from cowhide. The reaction provoking comment was a recommendation made by Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina that the sale and consumption of hides and skins in the country should be banned to boost its leather industry.
The Federal Government has presented a clearcut case; in 2013, the Registrar of the Nigeria Institute of Animal Science, Oyedele Oyedeji, stated that leather is the second largest non-oil foreign exchange earner for Nigeria. However, only seven out the 30 tanneries in the country are functional due to a shortage of the commodity.
The National Bureau of Statistics also noted in its ‘Overview of GDP in Quarter 2 2014’, that the Apparel and Footwear industry was among the fastest growing manufacturing sub-sector with a growth rate of nearly 30 percent.
Experts believe that the leather and footwear sub-sector has the ability to contribute as much as 70 percent of Nigeria’s GDP if only it is fully exploited. But this cannot happen if Nigerians persist in putting the potential footwear into their pots of soup instead!
The issue has seen many passionate arguments for and against the ban on social media. But what do you think guys? Should the Nigerian government be banning what is obviously a well loved local delicacy? Or do Nigerians need to look at the bigger picture and sacrifice their ponmo for a flourishing leather industry? Hit us up on social media with your feedback guys, remember to use the hashtag #SayIt