President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said the economic policies of his government are achieving good result. 

The president said this at the commissioning ceremony of BUA Cement’s new three million metric tonnes per annum cement line in Sokoto. 

According to Buhari, “In the past two weeks, I was in Ogun and Kaduna states where I commissioned projects. Those ones, with this project undertaken by BUA Cement, show that our policies are working.” 

The president then called on private sector operators to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the policies to grow their businesses and also create employment opportunities. Buhari said the responsibility of growing the economy rested squarely on the shoulders of both the public and private sectors. 

He therefore called for the collaboration of both for the nation’s economic development. While noting that each of the states in the country is endowed with resources that could be converted to wealth, Buhari said his government was ready to introduce policies that would facilitate the exploitation of the nation’s abundant natural resources. 

The president called on building material manufacturers to do all in their power to bring down the prices of the items. 

Earlier in his address, Chairman of BUA Group of Companies, Alhaji Abdul Samad Rabiu, said the company was resolute to make cement available and affordable to Nigerians irrespective of their location. 

He said this was the rationale behind the construction of four new cement lines in the last five years. 

According to him, two new lines would be completed in 2023, one at the Sokoto plant and the other at the Edo plant. “These will bring our total output to 17million metric tonnes per annum,” he said. 

Speaking about the newly commissioned line, Rabiu said “it is environment friendly as it is designed with the highest energy efficiency and latest pollution abating technology.” 

Rabiu, who boasted that BUA deployed the best available technology to produce the best cement in the country, said 95 per cent of the raw materials used by the company was sourced locally. 

He also said the plant would be generating its own power from gas and expressed the readiness of his organisation to cooperate with the government to reduce unemployment in the country. 

In his goodwill message, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, lauded Rabiu for the new line which he noted would increase cement supply in the country. The apex bank chief said the growth of BUA and other cement companies in the country justified the decision of the government in 2015 to restrict access to foreign exchange for importation of 43 items which could be produced in Nigeria, including cement. 

He added, “Following implementation of this new directive, I am pleased to note that the production capacity of the cement industry in Nigeria has doubled from 30 million tonnes in 2014 to about 60m tonnes in 2021. Consequent upon this investment by local businessmen into the cement manufacturing sector, our nation has been able to conserve billions of millions of dollars, as no dollar from our external reserves has been spent on import of cement into the country in the last six years. Importantly also, these investments have saved and/or created several thousands of jobs across multiple sectors of the economy. 

“It is important to note that these gains are not a coincidence but are a reflection of the success of the backward integration policy of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. With significant opportunities in housing, construction and related industries, there still remains sufficient room for additional investments in the sector and I would like to urge potential investors to take advantage of these opportunities available right away.” 

Emefiele then called on building material manufacturers to work towards bringing down the cost of the materials because of their importance to economic development. 

The event was attended by the cream of the society, including Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal; Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje; Kebbi State governor, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu and Kwara State governor, Abdulrazak Abdulrahaman. Others include the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar; the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero; the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, captains of industry, ministers and legislators, among others.