The Executive Secretary, National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, at the weekend said the recent approval of the phase II plan for the implementation of the Nigeria Sugar Master Plan (NSMP) by the federal government would boost investors' confidence and also attract more investments to the industry.

The federal government has approved an initial of 10-year mandate to revitalise the sector to enable Nigeria attain self-sufficiency in sugar production.

Prior the approval of the NSMP phase II plan, the policy was first launched in 2012 and began operation in 2013.

Only recently, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the second phase of the plan to operate from 2023 to 2033, a development which was hailed by top industry players.

However, while speaking in Lafiagi in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council, Adedeji, who led some senior officials of the council on an inspection visit to the Lafiagi Sugar Company, a subsidiary of BUA Foods Limited in Lafiagi, said: “Like I've said elsewhere, the granting of the NSMP phase II by President Muhammadu Buhari is a reconfirmation of the trust and confidence that he has in the sector.

“This singular act points to the fact that Nigerians are pleased with what the council, our supervising ministry, and operators have been doing with regards to the meaningful revitalisation of the sugar sector.

“To whom much is given, much would be expected. We are quite optimistic that a lot would be achieved in this phase II of the NSMP.”

Adedeji added: “In line with the

expectations of the president and Nigerians, we shall in the shortest possible time attain self-sufficiency in sugar production as well as export to neighbouring African countries.

“But you know that one of the things that we have the mandate to do is to assess what has happened in the last 10 years; what are the lessons that we need to include as we begin a new journey come 2023.

“We shall tinker a bit with what we had in the past. Essentially, our next phase of activities would be anchored on verifiable data and innovation to make our work seamless.”

While describing the extension of the policy as a welcome development that would offer existing key players in the sector the ample of opportunity to build on what had been achieved in the first 10 years of the implementation of the NSMP, Adedeji stated that both human and material resources would be deployed to meaningfully grow the industry.

On the visit of the council to the Bua Sugar Company in Lafiagi, Adedeji said the visit was primarily to assess the level of work so far done by the company, discuss the new modalities for reporting progress in line with the NSMP Phase II guidelines and harped more on the supremacy of the NSMP, which he described as the Bible and Qur'an of the sector.