INTERVIEW Dupe OlatubOSUD retired from the University of Ibadan, where he became a professor before turning 35, to establish Funduk Industries Limited , a company that is into 60 many business a ctivities and is in the process of introducing another tine of business, intravenous Quid. In this interview with Sulaimon Olanrewaju. the former presidential upirant,who .... aJsoin c.ha.rge of cassava revolution prog;rammein Ogun aDd Ekiti
a.k younelr how mud1 IS he png to IIdl the pnxiuct to he ah&t' to pay both the pnndpoI and the inten::sL And when he has to borrow mon~ a l such tugb. Ultcre&t rate, the pnce of the product will be very blgh and ttua will make It d iffieult to
atates, speaks on the economy, the polity, education .a.eUuthe buaine.. world. Excerpt.. What b rM FwuIuk Intra5l'llMOl&$ nldd plGAt a.bcMt.t? My company, f\mduk Indusmes Lunlled. til U'I the buamc:as of table water, '\ACht't water. nylon, poly bags, film rolls. a b~ nCo The: company atarted about rune: yean RgI) and II has been doing wrll. W~ auppiy '\Loater to • number of compahJCII and orgarusatians in n.dan and bt'yond. The: suoceaa Wt' tl.Ye ~'ed 10 F\lnduk cncouragt'd us to want to dJ~ 1Oto another area.. lbc~ W't' are £Omg U'I to is mtnn't:noua Qwd In tlua country today, 95 to 98 per emt of the mlTavenoua OUld bong used in all the hosPitalS in Nigena IS CWTmtJy being Imported Until about two yean ago, thUt' was no manufactunng company prodUcing llIuavmous Owe! m Nigena The only company that produ«s intravenous OUld m th~ country aa m Enugu and It wu oommilmaned about two yean ago. The one we an: about to start m Mowya.. Ibadan. MlI be the fiTsC of Ita kInd m the whok of South Wdt. Ntgcna. It lS FUll to pl'OV1de the much needed mtrav'enous flUId It lS aUo gomg to help Ul the n:duc:tion of the tran:sfer of OUT hard t'arned fOl"Ogn e:x~ ID Europe and Am~nca becnusc: IlIJla" ~ will be producutg., th~· will be buytng rrom us Alreudy we have IllOre than 50 Ietten of Ultent £rom cluucs. lcadung hospitals and pharmaceuucal COQ1parua wanunS to buy whatever 'We can produoe. It lS png to provide JObs. £or" more than 2.000 people at the same ume ItlSalSO£Olll&to 1l11prtJ'V't the- CfOU Nauonal Product tcNP) of thu countty It ...ul aJ80 boost the """""",. The MinIster of Trade and investment. Mr Olwcgun Aganp. will be commg to perform the foundation .. tone Iayin& ceremony. The goyemor of O)oft State. Senator Abda AJimobl, wiD
com
he the chairman. 1he pr~sldent of Manufacturer. Asaodatlon of Ntgena. Clud Ko&a Jamodu. will also be m auendarK:e and 80 will be many other
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nus proj«t has been made posaibk through a "'"""""'" 0/ bonIuo
IncludIng Th~ Commc:rc::e Bank of Germany, whk:h is the biggest hank Ul Eu.-ope, the Bank of
Industry. USA
PIc::
te
The rate of borrowing money from any bank will be between 22 and 25 per cent, ifnot more because they will stiU add so many charges.
and of course Funduk Industnes Ltd 1bt' projeCt 1& cosWlg us NSbillion Why ls it tJuat until two y.ra.n: ago. Nigeria d i d not thlnk 01 bunding an fntra.PenOlIU fluid plant?
p~
!o.WJW1IIhIy WIth .. i m I I • r prod.... from advanced countrteS of the _1<1. I can teD you that WIth gkwy to Cod. Funduk Indus tr lea Umlted was abk: to obtain offshore klan a t the nlte of 2.2 per c:cnL But Ifl have to ~y 22 to 25 per cent on the am, you can lmIIgtnt' wbat the price or th at produce will be. But t h ~ Mimstry orTnidc and lnvtatmcnt ha. been encoumgl-ng us, that IS why the: Bank 01 Industry IS also prtMdmg part of tht" on sho rt" lo an whilt" FUnduk It.sc1f IS provKlmg about 25 per cent of the tolal (und fOf" the proJeCt TItt":f"t" is the need rDr" Nlgcnan banks to ~ the Sdtmg up o f pro.rec:ta of!Jus nalUn:. 1ltey Blso oee:d to reduce the 1Ot~ rotc: to smgk dl&,ta. In South Afnca, the intaest rate: is about nine per ocnl. Ul Mala)'SUl. it IS about thTec: pet"C'Cl1, UI South Kon:a,lt isabout 5.2 per e:cnl. ..hildn Japan. II ta ZIeI""O pel"
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In Nt.gena. moat of t.he bI:tnk!!i 0I"l: not willmg to finan~ long It'rro pro}CCtS; thl:}' an mon- tnle:natt"d in fiMJ'lClng shon· tc:n:n projects 1ba1 IS why until very rttently. NlgnlA .'as mainly a nabOn of traders; bu)'lng and sdhng.. It IS not easy to haft a smgk uxbvK:Iw:t.I finanang a N Sb&llion pro.za:t Another reason the country did not gel tnto Uua mdU&UY rsrty enough IS thai the Ultcr'e5.t ratt' on bnnk rad!ltiea is t oo high For mstance today, the rate of txxTowmg money from any bank will be between 22 and 25 per c:cnl, If not man: hecaux: they will still .td. 80 many chargea.. When an
lndustrialist bonvw. money and has to PQ as much as 25 per cent as interest toFther WIth other c:harget:,")'OO""caD now
<en'5c:Nnt" oftbeac countnes tike Mabtysaa and South Kon:a were Car bd:und us tn the 196Oa. but now they are devdopc:d and we arc: still deYdopmg.. If the ~I can enc:ouragoe the banka: to make funcb: ~ to amall. medium and ~ scaJe businesaea 10
~
N~"«~ ... ~. ;t ~ta!L pr~"'be.1v-_..cc
Bow long wiU Uu construction 01 Uteplant last? By the grace of God. we e:xp«:t that by next year 'We IhalI be' UlVttu\g OUT prc$1dcnt, Dr Coodtuck: Ebek Jonathan to comnussxm the proJCCt. W~ bcbevcthot the pro)CCI wiI.I tn.mform not only the economy of Aklnyele Loeal Gove:rnment or that of Oyo State but the economy of the whole country becaUSle II 18 a gtpllbe: ~ The: plant IS a parncuJarty amportant chmc:rwon 01 thlS country's health can: ddiveJy system becauac all hosptJl..ls need Ultravenous Dwds but they doo't haw: enough. In some c:a3eS, they have to pay ahcMt so thaI they can be as:sured 01 IUPJIIy But With the: c:ommg 01 ttu.a plant, II will reduce- the sc:araty 01D"ltraYen0U8 fIwds in Ntgena. WhAt u the ...od&IatIon lor IIuJIdlng tAb pLant. P - the tn..fQb(U4II.n' the economy and tM la.ct that JPU are alreacfM'~ In og.? TIle moti\'Dtton is for my Mre and I to be able to contribute to the: dc-I dcpthCllt of our dc:aT counuy and to ~ ahle to a-eat.e empkJymcnt opportunmc:s I thank God I am IMng wdl. but It IS not. c:nougb to 1M: you must be able to help others to IJYe we:Il. With the esl8bhshment d ttus pamt. many pcopk will be p.U1fuIIy empkJ)~ and d...m c:ontnbuk to !.he GNP, ll.;Dabo help the health care deiM:ry system III the country Someoftheunen~ peupk 1ft the counlJ)' will be gamfully cm~ through this plnnt. The ec:onomy 01 the stott and the counuy will rec:cve a boo6L For me that lS a great motl\oation. We will a.IlIO be mmpk!mmtJng the plant 1ft Enugu bccauae It IS not Ul the: best mteJat 01 Ntge:N: to have only one mtnr\.'ClDUS thud aJmpulY We a1ao know that thI." demand is 80 hlgh.; 1%1 IDi:t the mdus:try beklngs to the e:ategory d lhoK III the 8dlcn' market bccauac then: IS aN."llY' an ux::n:a&mg demand (01"" the product Wha.~ will be the co.padty of tM
wen,
pla.nl.?
soo
W~ wiD be produang man- than milbon of the product annuolh' b«ausc the planl will open!lt" a rwo-Iluft systtm 1ltt": mat.enals are cortW1& &urn Romalek of Germany. wtue:h is thr bnn III lhr ..'CIIid It IS png to be a ~ prqee:t. best d liS kutd WIth the latest modu"n duIat;n III wtuch tbmgs are built to pcrlec::tJOn.. 1baJ. IS why the proJeCt will be' ~ Wlthm a
"""
Y"ou .star"tCId AS
UIIU
(Ul CICGdDn.fc. What tAe tr"IlIl.tdcM from ~ to
.......... _
7
It was good because I was ab&e to combine: .,..ha~e:f I Nid kam..\ . tn
~"!"2"""I\."'~ fCoId:fr on JI'GfIC 371 .
37
INTERVIEW
HiceriaD Tribune
Monday, 19 November, 2012
(Continued from page 36}
cent of the vehicles in BraziJ use bio fuel. We now ba~ can that are using distilled water; we have can that use electricity. There are so many derivatives that the need for carbon fuel is being lUtuoed, p.-actic<? r:specially bc:aJ.use of the danger it poses When you are pmctising. there are a to the environment. number of things you ha~ to put into So, I am happy that what I started in consideration You know in theory DKun and stales nooN being given othc~ <>Un.. is assumed; -. ceteris paribus, _ __ all _ __ _Ekiti __ _ is _ __ _ __
It also enabled me to know that there 1$ always a gap betwttn thcoryand practice. What is the gop between theory and
equal. But in reality an other thmgs are equal, so you have to know what to do to fill the gnp. But I must say it has
not usually
been
a
very
rewarding and pie a II U r a b I II! . e:xpenence. I left academics ycy early; I became a professor be~ I was 35 and I Ell I needed to also make whateYer talents my God had glVCl me a~ in o~ an:asofhumanendcavourandl1ba.sbecn
vcy~
Between academics 4nd the businÂŁ$.S world, which u mOn!: chcdlenging? . I will say the busmess world 15 ~ challr:nging because you are dealing with cnmplcx issue! in the business world whereas in the academics,~ teach, ~ canyoutrcscacc:h.YOUwn~booka. lt1S fixed. But ~ ~u go into the
an
busmess world, It 1.5 much more oomplicated. You are dealingwith human beings more than you are dealing with them in the academic 'i\IOrld ~ human beings are the most unpredjdab~: So, you have more challc:nges in the bUSIness world. Then,youaredealingwithpeopleof various chwacter and you have to deal with them because you cannot ~ in a vacuum and you must be able to sift the grains from the chaff. - -You are a professor of Agricultural Economies. You were also the elwirman of cQ..SScWG revobdton in. both Ogun and Ekitf states. What l.s your view on cassava bread and the wye to gencute reuenuefrvm (:U$,$CWg. e.xport:s?
There is nothmg they are saying now about the usefulness of cassava that 1 have not smd. I have said in many fora that the fururc of Nigeria is not in oil but in agriculture. Up till today. agriculture is responsible for more than 60 per cent of employment opporturuties m Nigeria and it goes down into the nooks and cranrues of tbe country". Agriculture provides employment opporrunitics and is a means of poverty alleviation to many N"1gCrianS but oil is for a few people. EV'CI1tuDlly, the oiJ will go away, what we will have left is agriculture. Recently. the United Slates p~idt':nt, Samek Obama, after his re-eileCtion, said he would free America from foreign oiJ. Othercountries are doing the same. More than 50 per
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Corruption caruwt be wiped out until those guilty of corrupt charges are properly dealt with. I[ a person is found guilty of corrupt practice and nothing is done for such person, others are encouraged to also be corrupt.
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pJ'Opa attention. Before 1 left Eldti State: under Chid Segu.n Oni as the govt we had already laid the foundation bio fuel industry cassava.. In Ososa, an industry there: whiCh focuses 00 cassava production; it waa started by me when I was in charge of cassava revolution in the state. so, I am very happy and delighted that the present administration is focussing ~ntion on cassava. There are more than 200 derivatives from cassava. All these things are in my boola and seminars I bad conducte d nationally and intem.ationaUy. Cassava has tremc:ndous opportun.ities for employment generation. economic prosperity and for increasingGDP. If you n:membeT, Chief Olusegurt Obasanjo started it in his ern.. The elite who were more intc:n:sted in importing wheat because they were ~~invoK:ing their bill to enable them tmnsfer foreign c:xchnnge 'WOuld not let it s uccccd. But I pray and hope: that it will succeed this tune around.. Who.( eJCaCtly do W8' need to do to facllit4te the ~ing of our economy Utrough agri.c:uIture? Nigeria is basieaUy an agricultwal country". It is not only cassava tha.t we need toconcc:ntrat.eon, tberelll'C so many other crops that we can work on for the bcnditofoureconomy. Many years ago, Malaysia crunc to Nigeria to get our palm oil seedlings and we gave them fn:.e. The n~ time they came, we wanted to give them the seedlings fn:.e but theysaid we shoukl DOt give tbem free that they woukt pay and theydid.Today, MalaysiaislIlakingmore money from oil palm than Nigeria is makingCromaude oil. So, all we Deed to do is take agriculture very seriously and stt it as the future of oureconomy. lfwedo thaland we accord it the neocsswy priority, things will begin toget better for the country. At a pow youjoi.n.ed. polities and eu.n aspin!d to the preside1u:y. Giuen that badcgrowu1., how do you rate our poUt:ics? Who.( Cld.tIice do you have for those stUl actiuely inuolved in polities? Then:: is no doubt in my mind that there should be politics but todny thuc is too mucbofpotiticsin Nigeria.. Every tittle thing is pltiticised. to the detriment of the economy. Tbe:n:: is need for Nigerians to focus more attention on economic development to enable the citizens to benefit substantially from democrncy. How do we use poUtic.s to develop ~ nation for the bettefit of the people? In Nigeria, the attention being given to merit is totally inadequate. In fact, I will say that politics is about 70 per cent of everythmg v.-e do in this country". This is very sad. For instaooe when President Jonathan first suggested this idea of one tenn for president, vice~president and governors, an they saw in it was politics. I run of the opinion that in Nigerio of Ioday, one tc:nn of six years should be enough. When a president or n governor takes over, he works in the first year. By the
second year, he Is already working {or the second term. In fact there arc some of them who even start preparing for the second tenn six months into their first term.. I think one of the best things Nigerians can dn in amending the constitubon is to make just one term p~ in.ter pares. There is nothing anybody wants to do in six yean that they cannot do. Some of these pr:aple compromise on issues thaI they sbould not have compromised on because they want a second tenn. They adopt policies that are not tenable because they want cheap popularity. We need to seriously reduce potitics in this country just as we need to totally eradicate corruption. Corruption cannot be wiped out until those guilty of corrupt charges arc properly dealt with. If a ~o is found guilty of corrupt practice and nothing is done for such person, others are encouraged to also be corrupt. Politics in Nigeria is totally not hdping the nation. Not too many men or bonour and integrity will want to be invoMd in politics in this country" because they don't want the name that took ~ so many ~ to build to be destroyed.. There are so many things happening that ought not to be happening. For instance, the House of Representatives can aptly be described as an oppositJon party to the presidency. Of COunlC:, the House should be able to proVIde checks and balances to the president but not to the extent of being' an opposition to the president. Our politic:ians should allow SOCIetal interests to be greater- than their
individual interests. Until they do weare not going to make much progresj. How do you rate our edu.c:a.tlon Sf!!C"tor?
I
There is little or nothing to write home about the education system in the country" today. Those of us wbo are in a POSition to employ, when we see the perfonnance or even the graduates, we are forced to question the aUthentiClty r ' their claim as graduates. The standard of educauon has gone down. There is the nr:ed for a maj~ surgical opcmtion in the educationAl system in N'~ We must go down ~ the basics, starting from the elementary schools. Some or the teacbcn are DO longer committed; they are busmessmcn and wom~. At the tc1iazy level. unlike during our time, the lecturers are more mterested in selling band outs, The students are no longer encouraged In read outside their subjects, that is why many of them are shaDow. There is need for proper monito~ ' supervision and contmuous evalua . of all institutions. It is not enough to ju .t set up a school; a secondary school or f:l uruversity and just give them authoriqy Wllhout monitoring or sUpefV18ion !b know whether the standard is bcin\!!: mwntnined or not. You can see this in the products that are coming out, that is wtw the rich ones send their children abroad. The so-called pnvate unl\-entties are rughly commercialised; th~ are mane interested in what the manuCactum1j, the industrialists and the. busmt':ssme~ are interested in, which LS profit. As result, students that are rejected b other- institutions are offered admissio~ by these priva~ univer.nllc:s as long theycan pay thefees.
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