“Your 2026-2027 planting needs to be more aggressive. The plan is not impressive at all and is not commensurate with your potential and opportunities. Why is your plan this modest? You say you are being realistic but what is the challenge? Being realistic has to be about a challenge. You have 10,000 TCD plant and your plan is like this? “
That’s the Executive Secretary/CEO of the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Kamar Bakrin, when he led a delegation to the BUA-owned Lafiagi Sugar Company (LASUCO) in Lafiagi, Kwara State.
The BUA team which took the Executive Secretary round was led by its Managing Director, Engr Musibau Dele Abioye; Chief Financial Officer, Alh. Abdulraheed Olayiwola; and the Senior General Manager, Engr Labaran Seidu.
“We are expecting about 70 percent of the production from the three of you, the major players. And you can count on us for support and collaboration,” the NSDC boss said.
Bakrin said that the tour of the BUA sugar farm, the factory, laboratory, irrigation facilities, airstrip, among other structures, was part of measures to ensure that the three major players are on the same page with the Council in terms of set targets and timelines for sugar production.
The NSDC boss, who was taken round the expansive premises of the company by its management team, had a robust discussion with his tour guide and heads of the various segments of the operation.
He sought to know the modus operandi of the various segments and if they were up to standard to be able to support NSDC’s aspirations for self-sufficiency in sugar production and industrialisation.
As a follow-up to the Sugar Industry Monitoring Group (SIMOG) meeting held in Abuja some weeks ago, the company unveiled its targets and assumptions, irrigation plan, cane development plan, factory development plan among others, and pledged to complete the first phase of the project by the first quarter of next year.
Bakrin and his team made their observations known based on what they saw on the field and the briefing they got in the office. The two parties therefore agreed that a lot will have to change in the parameters and targets that were presented while the Council can check back in six month.