By Bimbola Oyesola and Steve Agbota

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has tasked manufacturers in the country to salvage the country from total collapse by ensuring that 100 percent of their raw materials are sourced locally.

Speaking at the commissioning of N11 billion Nigeria Breweries plant upgrade in Ota in Sango Ota, Ogun State, Amosun said it was commendable that the company presently sourced 50 percent of its raw materials locally, but stated that the best for the economy would be for the manufacturers to source 100 percent of their raw materials in the country.

According to the governor, “It will be in our collective interest for companies in Ogun state and even the entire country to source their materials locally. Backward integration and import substitution is the master key to a self-sustaining economy”. 

He however congratulated the company on the successful upgrade of the brewery which he described as an enviable step capable of facilitating a self-dependent economy. 

Governor Amosun noted that NBL sourcing of over 50 per cent of its raw materials locally as well as 95 per cent of its packaging material was a right step in the right direction and a big  support for government’s backward integration.  

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He promised that the state will continue to provide necessary conditions for businesses to operate smoothly in the state.

Meanwhile former President Olusegun Obasanjo, represented by Chief Abraham Idowu Akanle, equally congratulated Nigerian Breweries on the upgrade of its brewery. He described the private sector as the engine room of economic growth and called on other corporate organisations to follow the fruitful example of the company.

Part of the brewery infrastructure commissioned at the well-attended ceremony included a new PET line, a Water Treatment Plant and a Waste Water Treatment Plant, among twenty one others.

In his address, Chief Kola Jamodu, Chairman, Nigerian Breweries Plc, explained that the multi-billion Naira PET line which currently boasts the best technology in the HEINEKEN world was installed to deepen availability of the non-alcoholic product portfolio of the company. 

He added that the modern Water Treatment Plant was constructed to ensure the continued excellent quality of the company’s brands while the Waste Water Treatment Plant further contributes to the success of its sustainability agenda of “Brewing a Better World”.