By CHIDI NKWOPARA

OWERRI—The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Eastern Zone, has passionately appealed to the federal government to make the Port Harcourt and Calabar ports functional to reduce the hardship manufacturers and other private sector operators faced in the zone.

The appeal was part of an 11-point communiqué issued at the end of their  meeting in Owerri and signed by MAN Vice President (East), Dr. Frank S.U. Jacobs, and four other captains of industry.

He said: “Government should seriously look into the problem of multiple taxation still plaguing manufacturing concerns within the zone and which have crippling consequences on existing and potential investments.”

On the lifting of ban on selected imported goods, MAN cautioned that it should not be allowed to affect the operations of local manufacturers.

“The Nigerian Customs should ensure that compensatory tariffs are paid on the products in a manner that made in Nigeria products could still be viably produced,” MAN reasoned.

It suggested that the list of beneficiaries of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s, CBN, intervention fund should be made public to stem the fear and suspicion that the disbursement was concentrated within one geo-political zone.