The Coalition of Arewa Civil Society Groups (CACSG) has called for the sacking of the Director General of the Nigeria Leather and Science Technology (NILEST), Zaria, Prof. Mohammed Yakubu.
Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, Abbas Aminu, spokesman of the group, said Yakubu, lacks the technical know-how and capacity to harness the potentials of the institute to boost the leather industry. According to the group, the leather industry, is a viable sector capable of generating huge revenue for the nation and equally create jobs.
The group however regretted that key actors in the leather industry have lost confidence in the institute due to the alleged incompetence of the Director General.
Aminu said, “Over time, authorities in Nigeria has alluded to the fact that the leather industry remains the second major viable foreign exchange earner after oil.
“This is also in tandem with the report of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
“Also, the 2019 macro-economic outlook report placed the contribution of domestic leather production at 24 per cent of the total agriculture GDP in Nigeria.
“However, despite all these indices of high possibility of economic diversification through the full utilization of the leather industry, the only institute saddled with the responsibilities of transforming this into reality has not lived up to expectations due to the lack of capacity by the Director General of the institute.
“We want to emphatically state that NILEST under the stewardship of the Director General, Prof. Mohammed Yakubu has failed in all ramifications and he should be sacked.”
The group said, rather than thinking out of the box on ways of harnessing leather as a product for national development, “the DG has been spending tax payers money attending jamborees across the nation and the globe.
“We challenge him to present the number of hides and skin the institute has been able to produced or products for the hides and skin since his assumption into office as the helmsman of leather research institute,” he said.
The CACSG described the establishment of 350 tanners by the DG in Daura, President Mohammadu Buhari’s town, as “eye service and incompetence”.
