Nigerian tanning industry is in ferment. Lawrence Chidi Anukam, general director of the National Agency for the application of guidelines and regulations, expressed his displeasure about the sustainability issue. In fact, in the district of Kano, which is considered a strategic industrial hub, leather treatment systems, implemented by tanning factories, are not sustainable from the environmental point of view. “Erasing is much easier than building up”- complains Anukam, as he pledges to take political actions if companies are not going to modify their modus operandi: “Things cannot go on like that; we will not allow an industrial sector to destroy what we consider our common endowment. We are not planning to apply any penalties, though we’ll do it if we are compelled to”. Over the last months, some government inspectors turned up, several times, in the district, imposing the immediate implementation of anti-pollution tools and measures. Organizations and authorities have been paying closer and closer attention, with regard to this specific production sector. Tunde Sodade, chief executive officer at Lekki Worldwide Investments, confirms such attention: his company has been appointed by Nigerian government to develop business for small and medium enterprises in the province of Lekki. Sodade pointed out, while talking to local media, that a new project is underway: it aims to develop facilities and plants, thus providing companies with the appropriate tools to join the major trade flow. “We have designed an area for leather, one for cosmetics and another for food commodities” – pointed out the manager, as he added that “with regard to leather trade, they will supply common manufacturing facilities such as machinery for leather cut and dyeing, as well as power units and additional tools”. The aim is to foster and boost a merger between small and medium enterprises, thus affecting the markets.
