The Association of Master Bakers and Caterers of Nigeria (AMBCN) is set to begin a two-week warning strike starting Wednesday, July 13th, 2022. The AMBCN National President, Mansur Umar – alongside the rest of the association’s executive council – issued and signed the announcement after meeting in late June.
The threat of strike was issued June 24th in response to the surging prices of production – Umar citing in interviews the rising price of monopolized and imported baking goods such as sugar, flour, and wheat. In all of Africa, Nigeria reportedly has the highest cost of bread. This cost has increased significantly in the past 5 years, reported by Business Insider as rising 42% between 2017 and the first quarter of 2022. Nigeria’s latest account from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports the average price of 500g sliced bread rising 35.1% from May 2021 to 2022 – and the price only continues to escalate.
The government has laid much of the onus on this rise with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Russia and Ukraine are among the world’s highest wheat and grain producers and exporters, and only 1% of the 5-6 million metric tons Nigerians consume annually is produced locally (Central Bank of Nigeria).
AMBCN’s South-East Zonal chairman, Dominic Nwibe revealed this past Wednesday that they would join in the nationwide strike, disagreeing with the government assessment: “We don’t see any justification to this assertion as flour, for instance, can be sourced from nearby countries,”
Nwibe revealed the sentiments of members were with their customers, understanding that the up-charge of their baked goods was to their detriment – but bakers have no choice.
“The customers would feel that we are greedy, and we want to let the federal government know that the situation has become unbearable,” he explained. “We are asking for the liberalization of the sugar importation process to break the monopoly by two or three firms. These firms import sugar and control its price mechanisms as the withdrawal of services will make our customers know we are telling the truth on reasons for price increases.”
AMBCN’s statement also cites government inaction and neglect from the ministries and agencies: “The National Wheat Cultivation Committee already constituted is yet to be inaugurated after over one year. NAFDAC, SON, and NESREA have turned the bakers into money-making machines by charging our members outrageous levies even at this very challenging moment.”
Bread is a staple of Nigerian homes, and as the cost rises, unfortunately so does the toll on everyone.
