Nigerian yam: US accepts, UK rejects

Association of Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers, Nigeria meeting going on at Federal. Ministry of Trade and Investment, Abuja. In the Middle, the President, Prof. Simeon V. Irtowange, at Right, Nat. Secretary, Mr. Musa Adam and left, Nat. Deputy President Mr. Nissan Damoerom.

·        *Madlion indicts minister, others, asks minister to resign

·        *Association denies report, puts records straight

Contrary to a news item making the rounds in the media that all the yams exported by Nigeria recently were rejected, the Association of Nigerian Yam Farmers, Processors and Marketers has denied the allegation, describing the reports as sheer mischief by misguided elements just as Executive Director of Admirer Environmental Care, Kaduna, Mr. Shedrack Madlion asked the minister, Chief Audu Ogbeh to resign for bungling the initiative. The association reacted through its president, Prof Simeon V. Irtowange after a meeting held at Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in Abuja.

The association explained that it was not true that all the yams were rejected saying that all the ones exported to United States were received at Houston, Texas, US, cleared by the clearing agents and were safely evacuated to the warehouse where it has been distributed into the American market.

When asked concerning the situation in the UK market, he confirmed that the yams were rejected because it took the commodity three months to get to the United Kingdom instead of the normal three weeks adding that by that time the yams were rotten and that it was not an isolated case as it had happened to Ghana also.

In a statement he read at the end of the meeting he said that “we consider this news item as hand work of the detractors and mischievous people, because in the first instance nothing of such happens. Our yams were received in Houston, Texas, cleared by clearing agent on behalf of off takers, and the off takers have since been distributing the yams all over the states of USA. So we don’t know where this news came from. But we want to inform you that nothing of such happened. Our yam remains the best globally, our yam remains competitive globally and this association is ready to go into yam production so as to be able to meet up with demand of Nigerian yams export. So we want Nigerians to disregard every such information that our yam was rejected in USA. Nothing of such ever happened. We are looking forward to the National Assembly to quickly repeal the export prohibition Act so that we can move on in full force in making sure that we take over yam export business which is put at 18.4 billion dollars. If Ghana is making five billion dollars annually, then there is nothing stopping Nigeria from making eight billion dollars from US”.

He went further: “the AIT news actually focused on the UK. But the print and social media said it was in the US. Even what happened in the UK is not anything out of the ordinary because the yams took almost three months to get to the UK. So it is natural some of them will be rotten. But it is not just with Nigerian yams only . I was in the US, and I saw Ghana yam in containers, rotten…There is no way you will take yams to the UK or US that you will have 100 percent wholeness”.

Mr. Shedrack Madlion 

Earlier, Madlion had, in a telephone interview with Foodfarmnews indicted the minister, National Agric Quarantine Service (NAQS) and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council saying that the incident showed that the ministry’s legal unit does know its job; that the NEPC is sleeping and that “technically speaking, yams are not allowed to be in transit for more than 15 days. Yams don’t go by ship, yam don’t go by containers. Yam goes in maximum shelf live in transit is fifteen days. Anything beyond 15 days, going to 70 days from the tropic to temperate region will turn out to be a loss. 

As I speak with you, Nigeria will be looking for 14,000 pounds to dispose of the rotten yams rejected by the authorities.”