{"id":18531,"date":"2017-10-25T10:43:17","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T09:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/?p=18531"},"modified":"2017-10-25T10:43:17","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T09:43:17","slug":"yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).<\/p>\n

\u00a0In a statement\u00a0on Tuesday<\/span><\/span>, the exporters explained that their consignments were successfully cleared at the ports and delivered to their various warehouses.<\/p>\n

\u00a0According to the statement, the concerned exporters \u201chave expressed worries about the potential impact of the negative publicity on their prospects at the export market in the wake of federal government\u2019s initiative on diversification of the economy through agricultural produce export\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Though they admitted that some cases of tuber spoilage were reported,\u201dThese were separated from the good ones, and the good ones were distributed to the buyers\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The exporters noted that Ghana, \u201cwhich has been exporting yams for a while, routinely records cases of spoilage, without making any public issues therefrom; and their yams don\u2019t get rejected as a result\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mr. Michael Adedipe of ADES UK Foods and Drinks for the UK, was quoted as saying his consignment was not rejected; \u201cIt was cleared.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0Adedipe said: \u201cI don\u2019t know why they said the product got rejected. I\u2019ve sent my release note. I\u2019ve sent video of loading. I\u2019ve sent every documentation to say that there is no issue like that at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the spoilage of yam, Adedipe explained that \u201cthe failure has nothing to do with the ministry of agriculture, but the Nigerian Ports Authority. That\u2019s where I see the failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adedipe, who vowed not to stop yam export business, disclosed that \u201cthe other mistake was the shipping line we used. But they were the ones that were available.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, in spite of the sour experience with media report, \u201cI\u2019m willing to invest. I still expect at least to take a container from Nigeria every week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Managing Director, Wan Nyikwagh Farms Nigeria Limited, Mr Yandev Amaabai, also disputed the yam rejection story, adding that it \u201cdoesn\u2019t even tally\u201d.<\/p>

\r\n
Advertisement<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

He said: \u201cI am the only person who has lifted yam to the US. Whatever we can do to clarify this issue will be good. We learn as we progress. The whole idea that government brought was to diversify the economy.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goods actually got to the US on September 7, 2017. The ship berthed on September 2, 2017, but, because of the flooding in Texas, we couldn\u2019t discharge until the 7th<\/sup>. They were cleared from the Customs and brought to the warehouse on the 7th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u201cOur yams were released to us and we took them to the stores. We sorted out our yams when they got there. We distributed them to the off-takers. So, where they got this story from, I don\u2019t know. Nobody has ever called from anywhere, even in the US, to ask me question. If a few yams got rotten, and I am not complaining, why are people crying more than the owner? I have all the papers. The Customs cleared my goods on the other side. And these things went to my warehouse from where we distributed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Ghana, which produces 4.8 million tonnes of yams, according to 2008 estimates, occupies a niche as the leading exporter of the crop, accounting for over 94 per cent of total yam exports in West Africa, Nigeria which is by far the world\u2019s largest producer of yams, accounting for over 70 to 76 per cent of the world production, producing 35.017 million metric tonnes valued equivalent of US$5.654 billion by the 2008 estimates should do better than Ghana in the export market<\/p>\n

\u201cGhana is the first country in West Africa to launch its national yam development strategy in 2013. The country aims at US$5billion dollars of exports by 2018. Nigeria, which produces seven times Ghana\u2019s production volume, is beset with criticisms over attempts to bring it to the global yam markets. About 90 per cent of Ghana\u2019s yams are exported to the US, Canada, UK and elsewhere in Europe. There are more Nigerians than Ghanaians in these countries, meaning more prospects for Nigerian exporters.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cChief Ogbeh has said that Nigeria, the largest producer of yam in the world, is not anywhere near the capacity to export and remains so much a nation of consumers. He stressed that \u201cNigeria must export\u201d as the \u201ccountry\u2019s economy is increasing, and\u00a0in ten years<\/span><\/span>\u2019 time, oil and gas is going to drop. Then we may have nothing to earn foreign exchange except we begin to diversify our export base now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0 The statement signed by Special Adviser, Media & Communications, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, explained that with all these prospects in view, the Honourable Minister \u201cexpressed surprise at the negative news trailing his laudable effort at putting Nigeria on the global yam export market, saying \u201cwe\u2019re not going to stop because this is not enough to demoralise us. We have food to export. Never mind what so-called critics are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cIn the ministry of agriculture,\u201d he said, \u201cwe are not exporters. The ministry does not export. We\u2019re going to talk to the port authority on cooling vans for vegetables and fresh produce so that exporters don\u2019t lose money and we don\u2019t lose face. We should begin to build cold trucks that are temperature-controlled to keep the yams till the time they have to go. We should invest in special containers for their storage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf other countries are doing it, we too can do it. We\u2019re trying to take over the market. We\u2019ve come to nearly 70 per cent of raw output of yams. Why can\u2019t Nigerians in Texas, Canada, London and Germany have access to the yams?\u201d The Minister vowed that \u201cwe will go ahead with our efforts to export yam. We will not let this opportunity slip any further. We are determined to position our people to capture the investment opportunities and benefits in the yam export to these countries. We will fix the yam export value chain. We have the volume and the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will emphasise global best practices, engage with world class experts and international organisations as well as leverage the strength in indigenous knowledge. We will support investment in relevant infrastructure and facilities. We will revive the abandoned yam conditioning centres in Ekiti and Nassarawa states while we encourage the construction of new ones with appropriate equipment to boost storage and export prospects. We appeal to Nigerians, in the spirit of patriotism, to see the silver lining around the cloud of the week of misinformation about yam export.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have commenced engagement with the National Assembly for the repeal of the 1989 law that prohibits export of yams and other agro-commodities. Currently, the bill has passed the second reading at the National Assembly. The continued existence of this law is an obstruction against the economic diversification and export initiative of this administration. We plead with the National Assembly to fast-track the repeal of the law and help us further unlock our export potential\u201d.<\/div>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA). \u00a0In a statement\u00a0on Tuesday, the exporters explained that their consignments were successfully cleared at the ports and delivered to their various warehouses. \u00a0According to the statement, the concerned exporters \u201chave expressed …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":17674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,17],"tags":[3111,683,2125],"coauthors":[2391],"class_list":["post-18531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-business","category-news","tag-abdu-ogbeh","tag-agriculture","tag-yam"],"yoast_head":"\nYam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law - National Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law - National Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Wire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-25T09:43:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/th-3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Friday Ekeoba\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/\",\"name\":\"National Wire\",\"description\":\"About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/th-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/th-3.jpg\",\"width\":250,\"height\":250,\"caption\":\"Audu Ogbe, Minister of Agriculture\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/\",\"name\":\"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law - National Wire\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-25T09:43:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-25T09:43:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927\"},\"description\":\"Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927\",\"name\":\"Friday Ekeoba\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/author\/friday\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law - National Wire","description":"Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law - National Wire","og_description":"Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).","og_url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/","og_site_name":"National Wire","article_published_time":"2017-10-25T09:43:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":250,"height":250,"url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/th-3.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Friday Ekeoba","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/","name":"National Wire","description":"About Nigerians, Nigerian Business and Other Stories","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/th-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/th-3.jpg","width":250,"height":250,"caption":"Audu Ogbe, Minister of Agriculture"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/","name":"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law - National Wire","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2017-10-25T09:43:17+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-25T09:43:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927"},"description":"Nigerian yam exporters have refuted news report which alleged rejection of their consignments in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States of America (USA).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/yam-exporters-refute-report-minister-implores-national-assembly-1989-law\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Yam exporters refute report as minister implores National Assembly on 1989 law"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/#\/schema\/person\/e2ab303e561d755b325fc9cea3854927","name":"Friday Ekeoba","url":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/author\/friday\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18531"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18532,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18531\/revisions\/18532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18531"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=18531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}