The Professional Carpenters and Furniture-Makers Association of Lagos State (PCFA) on has appealed to Federal Government to ban importation of furniture and some roofing and ceiling materials.
President of PCFA; Mr Anthony Aluko, made the appeal in Lagos during the association’s “peace rally“ to the Office of the Governor of Lagos State; Mr Babatunde Fashola.
Aluko said that importation of furniture had led to the closure of many companies in the country, adding that the importation had rendered a large number of his members jobless.
The Professional Carpenters and Furniture-Makers Association of Lagos State (PCFA) on has appealed to Federal Government to ban importation of furniture and some roofing and ceiling materials.
President of PCFA; Mr Anthony Aluko, made the appeal in Lagos during the association’s “peace rally“ to the Office of the Governor of Lagos State; Mr Babatunde Fashola.
Aluko said that importation of furniture had led to the closure of many companies in the country, adding that the importation had rendered a large number of his members jobless.
“To revive the moribund manufacturing companies and to reduce our unemployment rate requires immediate ban on importation of furniture and dangerous roofing/ceiling materials.
“The high rate of imported doors, keys, plywood, roofing materials, etc. has drastically reduced patronage of the locally produced ones.
“And if nothing is done to stop this trend, I can assure you that in the next 10 years there will be nothing like carpentry in this country," he said.
According to him, most of the imported building products in the nation’s markets are even of lower quality than the locally produced ones.
Mr Bode Abdul, the Vice President of PCFA, urged the Lagos State Government to relay their plea to the Federal Government.
He said that going through the State Government to the centre remained the right channel to see that their aspiration realised.
While commending the Lagos State Government for working for their growth, Abdul said that more assistance from Gov. Fashola was needed to triple their achievements.
“The carpentry professionals should be first before others in the consideration for contracts in their area of specialisation,“ he said.
He called on Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) to be more proactive in enforcing its mandate to discourage importation of foreign made furniture into the nation.
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