BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

President, Chattered Institute of Professional Printers of Nigeria, CIPPON, Muhammed Lawal has charged the Federal Government to fully implement the Act establishing the Institute.

He gave the charge at a one day seminar which had the theme: ‘Printing regulation: A vehicle for national development’ organised by the Institute in Lagos.
Lawal said the Federal Government has continued to violate several sections of the Act since 2007 when it was signed into law especially in the area of appointment of non professionals’ printers into executive positions.

”Why is it only in printing that a non professional is appointed based on political rather than professional considerations? For example, the Nigeria Security Printing and Minting, the man at the helm of affairs right now is not a printer. And that is case of the government flouting its own laws because a section of the Act establishing CIPPON said you cannot appoint non- printer to an executive position concerning printing,” Lawal said.

He also decried the trend of exporting printing jobs from Nigeria, saying it is contributing significantly to capital flight.
“If we must make Nigeria a comfortable place to live in, capital flight resulting from export of printing jobs must be halted. There is no good reason for printing jobs to be taken outside this country,” he said.

He said the seminar which will be a regular event was conceived to provide platform where issues and other challenges bedevilling the printing profession in the country will be discussed.

Speaking earlier in a welcome address, the chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Yahaya Amfani, noted that printing business in Nigeria existed for over 130 years without regulation and this made printing bastardised and an all-comer affair until 2007 when the Act establishing the Chattered Institute of Printing was signed into law.

Represented by Gbolahan Abdul, Amfani noted that the importance of printing regulation in the country cannot be overemphasised as this will not only enhance the achievement of set objectives but will also put a halt to capital flight resulting from taking printing jobs overseas.

“There is no doubt that printing profession in Nigeria has become very viable, hence there is a need for continuous sensitisation of all professional printers on the importance of maintaining standard. This will go a long way in enhancing the acceptability of printed works in Nigeria. It will further generate more opportunities to the country via the printers, leading to reduction in unemployment, increase in foreign exchange earnings and protection of printers to ensure that their machines are fully utilised,” he said.