The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has backed the recent pronouncement by the federal government to open the borders if prices of cement remained the same.
The president of the NIQS, Kene Nzekwe, gave the position of the institute yesterday in Abuja at a press conference aimed at addressing the impact of hyperinflation on the Nigerian construction industry.
A market survey by Daily Trust Saturday showed that the prices of cement range from N10,000 to N13,000 despite manufacturers agreeing to crash the price to N7,000 following a meeting with the minister of works, Dave Umahi.
He said, “The institute is in full support of the federal government’s pronouncement to open the borders, which was made by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development. We want it to be implemented, not just mere words.
“If the major cement manufacturers, Dangote, BUA and Lafarge want to hold the whole country to ransom, then the appropriate thing to do is to open up the borders to allow people bring in the same product and give them good competition,” he said.
Nzekwe further said there was an urgent need to sustain engagement with local construction manufacturers to understand and address their challenges, especially exchange rate volatilities, which have seen the naira depreciate by 300 per cent.
