By; MOHAMMED KAWU, Bauchi
The North East Development Commission (NEDC) State Coordinator in Bauchi, Ibrahim Mohammed Bashir has said that the briquette being produced from agricultural and domestic waste is a big source of export and foreign earner for the country, specifically to the Northeast sub-region.
Bashir, who was on Friday, speaking at the closing ceremony of a weeklong training for artisans and scavengers on efficient stoves and for briquettes production organized by the commission held in Bauchi, explained that the briquettes being produced in the Northeast would generate huge foreign exchange for the country.
Coordinator Bashir said, “I have been privileged to see the briquettes being package in cartons for export to neighbouring countries. If you are able to export it to outside World, it would attract a lot of money, so it is a very good source of economic empowerment”.
“if anyone could be opportune to export at least a load of trailer of the briquettes, I’m sure such a person would start manufacturing his own”, he said, and appealed to the training participants not to play with the skills they acquired during the training.
Alhaji Ibrahim Bashir explained that 30 participants were selected for the training, five from each of the six states in the North East with a view to stepping down the knowledge for others to benefit and eventually become self-reliance.
He expressed satisfaction with the commitment shown by the trainees throughout the training programme, assuring that the commission would provide them with starter packs to efficiently and effectively run their businesses.
The trainer of the artisans and scavengers, Engr. Saleh Yakmut who also spoke during the occasion, noted that the training has proved that the mandate of the commission has come to be directly proportional with the mandate of the people of the North East sub-region.
Yakmut said, “I have done this kind of training for the past 11 to 12 years, but this is the very first time I’m seeing an overall commitment and zeal to actually not only understand the training as a business and to pick up the contents, but one beauty thing of it is all the six states are ready to go back and have a synergy on production”.
“If I’m doing stoves in Gombe and another person is doing charcoal in Borno, I can call Gombe and say send me your stoves, send me more charcoal, I don’t have enough. Right now we have an order from only Borno state of 27, 000 bags, and for the past six months, we have only been able to give them 8, 000 bags. Each bag is 30kg and it is being sold at N5, 500.”
“So what North East Development Commission has done now is not only empowered the participants, but even empowered us the three companies as a business to have more people in the production of the briquette”, saying if this trend continued, it is going to eradicate poverty in totality in the Northeast sub-region”, Yakmut said.
One of the trainees from Adamawa state who spoke to the press shortly after the closing ceremony, Nuruddeen Ibrahim Ahmed said that he is contented with the training and thanked the North East Development Commission for the gesture, saying they would use the skills they acquired to fend for a living while stepping it down to others.
Another trainee from Taraba State, Esther Jonah Febuins said that they have during the training learnt the practical aspect of stoves fabrication through waste processing, and promised to extend the knowledge to respective members of their communities.
