The Sorry Story Of Benue Taraku Mills

It appears the company’s woes may have just begun. An investor said his peers had injected money into the company and were working hard to revive it. This ailing industry is capable of producing the finest grade of all forms of edible oil, different kinds of flour, brewers grit including all forms of animal feeds […]

It appears the company’s woes may have just begun. An investor said his peers had injected money into the company and were working hard to revive it. This ailing industry is capable of producing the finest grade of all forms of edible oil, different kinds of flour, brewers grit including all forms of animal feeds and diet. In fact, in its days of glory, Taraku mills supplied all parts of northern Nigeria with vegetable oil. But corrupt managers and sheer government neglect have not only killed the company, all efforts to resuscitate it are mired in corruption and so it perpetually remains comatose.

The pertinent question is, why should the state government always allow corrupt persons to superintend the revival of this industry which holds huge prospects for the people? This company is the legacy of the first civilian governor of the state, the late Aper Aku and should be jealously guarded but sadly, it is treated with levity.

Certainly, Aku’s regime which initiated the idea to set up Taraku Oil Mill in 1982 with a registered capital of $100 million and other similar industries such as: Oturkpo Burnt Bricks, Benue Fruit Juice Factory in Makurdi, Benue Packaging Company, Gboko and Benue Education Supply Company, Gboko to develop the state’s agricultural and natural resources did not envisage the myriads of problems that bedevilled these companies.

Ostensibly, the Aper Aku administration had envisioned that more youths would be gainfully employed, the farmers who formed majority of the rural population would have ready markets for their produce and the government would also generate plenty of revenue to boost the socio-economic sector of the predominantly agrarian and civil service propelled state.

Surely, not a few persons during the glorious birth of the moribund company had believed that the good intention of a governor, who within just four years of his tenure left foot prints on the sands of time, could be easily muzzled and could die quickly for lack of proper management.

Taraku mill commenced full fledged production in 1989 after the installation of necessary infrastructure. All machinery were installed between 1986 and 1987.  The company, was centrally located at Taraku, a four-kilometre distance to Otukpo town to serve the three dominant groups of Tiv, Idoma and Igala which constitute present day Kogi State.

It was envisaged that the proximity of the site to a nearby railway line coupled with the large expanse of land at its disposal would encourage farmers to grow soya beans and beniseed in order to feed the factory’s needs.

Moreso, the availability of raw materials would create an enabling environment for job seekers and also an avenue for people to market their farm produce which the company provided a ready market for.

It was basically intended to add value to agricultural production being  a rural state so that other economic activities related to farming and agriculture could gradually pick up to enable the populace survive on agro-allied economy.

But as it were, tales of disappointments, agonies and disillusionment replaced the noble dreams of the founding father especially for the fact that in the last decade of their epileptic operations, the ailing mills reputed to be the largest of their kind in West Africa had undergone pathetic stages of abject neglect in the hands of successive administrations.

The company during Governor George Akume’s regime witnessed on and off operations as it was said the firm was made to operate with inadequate funds. That administration lackadaisically paid its workforce on very irregular basis.

Then came the present administration. On assumption of office in 2007, Governor Gabriel Suswam began the process of resuscitating the company by offering it for lease to an investor for proper management and funding.

Thus, for the first time the mill, were leased to Yelwata Trading Company in 2008 under specified terms of agreement that the managers would revive the industry for effective production.

Sadly, the contract with Yelwata was terminated in June 2009 when the House of Assembly led by its then speaker, Terseer Tsumba questioned the arrangement between the lessee and the state government over financial competence.

Yelewata, it was learnt, could not pay the sum of N60 million after taking over the management of the company because it lacked financial muscle to revive the industry and to create the needed employment as envisaged by government in the agreement.

Government therefore, opted to close down the company and laid off over 377 of the workforce. The Commissioner for Commerce and Industry within the period, Mr Benjamin Vember had announced that only 200 staff were affected.

Before long, other activities around the crippled industry began to collapse for lack of patronage. Contractors were neither found around the environment to lobby for supply orders nor were commercial motorcyclists hustling for passengers.

People deserted the place and everyone to his tent. Even the petty traders who made brisk businesses at the company’s vicinity had to relocate just as the peasant farmers had to count losses every year for dearth of market for their produce.

Needless to say the entire mills environment became a shadow of itself and the host community returned to Stone Age with no source of drinking water, electricity supply, or hospitals within their reach.

When Sunday Trust visited the industry recently, only few policemen and some uniformed security men at the entrance of the complex were noticed to indicate any sign of life on the premises.

Interestingly, our correspondent observed 30 minutes on arrival a handful of job seekers barging through the gate to hang around the security post begging to speak with any available administrative staff that would help them secure employment as news of the company restarting production filtered into town.

It was gathered that the state government under a fresh agreement signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a new management to carry out a holistic maintenance of the equipment therein and to restore production of the spicy blends of various vegetable oils as well as other products it specializes in producing before the company went in limbo.

The project manager, Ajay Kumar who also conducted our correspondent round the plants claimed his employer, Kumar Metals Limited had recently obtained the company from the Benue state government at an undisclosed amount which he said can only be divulged by the managing director.

Ajay, who described the new management as an Indian firm with long standing reputation of quality services in different nations of the world, revealed that full scale production of edible oil and processing of different kinds of flour will begin soon.

According to him, operations will commence at minimal level before the end of this year as checking of the necessary machinery to put them in good shape had reached an advanced stage. He also disclosed that 200 new hands either through direct or indirect labour will be required immediately to start work and the number will be increased to 400 when full factory operations begin next year.

“We are checking all the machinery at the moment and we are test running the equipment, plant maintenance will start in the first week of September, which means that general production will commence soon,” he said.

He explained that the different purpose plants in the industry will generate production capacity to include 300 metric tons of oil per day for various edible oil, 300 metric tons per day for each kind of grains and over 1,000 metric tons per day and all other different high quality products that will be sold in the Nigerian market.

The project manager assured that there will not be a repeat of Yelwata experience with Kumar Metals as he boasted that the integrity of the Indian-owned firm established 70 years ago cannot be allowed to be dragged in the mud.

He stressed that the new managers will abide strictly by the agreement entered with the Benue state government to run the company for the next 15 years.

His words, “We took Taraku mills on lease for 15 years. We discovered that the mills were not being maintained as it should have been and they has taken us quite an effort to make they work. We hope to make use of local content within the community to produce soya bean oil, groundnut oil, cake, maize flour, crispe animal and poultry feeds to mention a few.

“We also hope to make local people more responsive by making sure that we live up to our social responsibility to provide employment, help to give some facilities and support water supply to the immediate host communities,” he said.

Ajay, who dispelled rumour that his company got the job after money exchanged hands, added that his company’s track record of genuinely having spent 23 years doing business in Africa speaks for them just as he maintained that Kumar Metals is a technical partner with the state government to ensure the revitalization of the Taraku mill.

Benue govt says it has no contract with the Indian coy

But the Commissioner for  Commerce and Industry, Mr Terfa Atoza denied Kumar’s claim that it leased the company from the state government and that it was going to manage it for 15 years.

Atoza in an interview with Sunday Trust in his office in Makurdi argued that the company was leased to an indigenous firm by the name, Grow Rich Nigeria Limited at the rate of N300 million under the agreement that it would carry out a raw maintenance before it commenced operations.

“The name Kumar is strange to me. I don’t know that company. It is Grow Rich we know and had given the property to. We have not approved any sub-list. We had in June this year leased the company to Grow Rich at N300 million for only five years and if, within the period they are found to be financially capable, we will give it back to them for another five years and if, we find lapses, we will take back our property,” the commissioner said.

He emphasized that the government made the agreement to derive dividends from the investment and to create a ready market for the teeming rural farmers to take their products to.

While the commissioner and Kumar Metals contradicted themselves on the true ownership of the company, former workers of the company added another controversy to the issue which is a proof that that the company is yet to get out of the woods.

The sacked workers of the mills when the company closed down in 2009 have not only threatened to drag the state government to court over non payment of their four-and-a-half-year entitlements but also doubted the seriousness of government in the efforts to transform the industry.

The workers posited that the Benue State government was very insensitive to their plight since they were laid off in December 2009 following the closure of the company even as they maintained that the basic challenge of the industry had been working capital to procure enough raw materials for maximum production to hit profit margin.

Former General Manager, Corporate Service/Company Secretary and Legal Adviser, Aondohemba Agba Injo who spoke on behalf of the disengaged staff in Makurdi described the treatment meted to them as, “inhuman development which can lead to crisis”.

Agba said that 377 workers were affected in the mass retrenchment by the state government and that they were still being owed over N1.440 billion as due entitlements for over a period of four-and-a-half years before they were forced out of work in 2009 when the company closed down production.

He alleged that a new management which leased the plant from the state government two months ago offered to pay them outstanding entitlements including retirement benefits to properly disengage their services.

But, “They [new management] reneged on the agreement as they claimed that the responsibility to pay us the money was not theirs but that of the state government. This is despite the fact that they held a meeting with us and promised to pay all outstanding debts including retirement benefits for which we both signed an agreement to that effect.”

The former General Manager explained that the state government had not yet responded to several appeals made in writing and had also failed to communicate effectively with the affected workers on how their entitlements would be paid.

 

Many sacked staff died waiting for pay

Agba Injo expressed sadness over the silence of the present government, saying there is no hope for the survival of any government establishment under Governor Gabriel Suswam’s administration.

He said the delay in paying them has caused serious hardship for the affected workers and that 60 persons died while waiting for their benefits to be paid.

To this end, Injo noted that a notice of demand to pay their entitlements had been served the state government and that on the expiration of the notice, they will have no other choice than to drag the government to court.

He noted, “Because of failure of government to pay, we have sent a notice of demand to the state government to pay all our entitlements and that notice will expire on September, 10.

“If government fails to comply before that date, we will go to industrial court in Abuja to effect a legal process. We want Benue government to treat us as bonafide citizens, not as slaves because we are human beings and part and parcel of the state.

“This development from Suswam’s administration is not fair because it can lead to crisis. People are bound to react when they are pushed to the wall.”

However, the industry commissioner, Atoza in response to the sacked workers issue said government is concerned about their plight and that measures are being put in place to tackle the matter.

Atoza also confirmed that there was an MoU entered with the new management on the payment of emoluments due to the affected workers and that it was being reviewed.

His words, “We signed an MoU with the new management concerning emoluments of the sacked workers. As a new commissioner in the saddle of the ministry, I’m reviewing the agreement to see what is contained therein whether it will be our responsibility to pay or that of the new management.

“I cannot at the moment state categorically what my advice to government or actions will be on the subject but if you call me again in the next one month, I will be able to tell,” he stated.

“The government should deliberately form a policy and inject a huge working capital into the mills such as it requires enabling the procurement of raw materials for processing and production at maximum benefit.

“It is a pity that a large mill like Taraku has never run on profit because the government lacks the political will to inject the necessary funds into it. Unless, the government is sincere enough to do so or genuinely bring in an investor with the financial muscle to run at a profit, the industry may never realize its objectives of establishment,” he concluded.

Taraku yearns for return of the mills

In a similar manner, the local people in Taraku added their voice. They enjoined the state government to reawaken their pride and their source of livelihood in order to ameliorate the tough time they have passed through since the closure of the mills.

They said they have high hopes that the revival of the industry will engage idle hands in the community and appealed to the new management to provide potable water, hospitals and schools for them.

The traditional head of Taraku, Alhaji Sani Agbose said he was not happy with the epileptic operations of the company over the past years as they have impacted negatively on the people who earned their living through thriving economic activities in the area.

“As you can see, nothing is happening here again. When the company was operational we were satisfied but since it broke down, we have become hungry,” he stated.

Also, the first businesswoman to operate a restaurant inside the complex in order to cater for the food need of the staffers, Mrs Mbatomon Gyan decried the closure of the mills saying her lucrative business.

She quipped, “I was the first person to do business in the factory when it started operations many years ago. I had a restaurant on the premises of the factory but it closed down due to the failure of the company and that has affected me negatively.”

On his part, youth leader of the community Douglas Agbose appealed to the state government to show sincerity in the present dealings so that the unemployed youth will benefit immensely and make progress in their individual lives.

His counterpart, a commercial  motorcyclist, Fidelis Terwase stressed that he is looking forward to a blissful future that will enable him ply the route for glory days to return.

A staff of the company who had survived several retrenchment exercises and has been working for over 22 years in the mills, Joseph Anagbe of Mbaabir host community in Taraku town claimed to have received his salaries up to date.

Though Anagbe prayed for the new establishment to make positive changes so that his people will have a new lease of life, he also requested that the new owners pay serious attention to their corporate social responsibilities.

Akume’s efforts came to naught

Taraku mills, an integrated agro-processing company was sighted in Gwer-east local government area of Benue State in 1986 to among others produce Golden Soya, Royal corn oil, Sunflower oil, Benolina, Benofeeds, Soya meals and Benogrits.

The products received huge patronage as they were adjudged the best. However, mismanagement of proceeds by the successive regimes led to the closure of the factory in 2004 during the time of Governor George Akume. Akume who ruled Benue State for eight years is now a Senator.

When contacted, Akume’s media aide, Mrs Becky Orpin said she was out of town. Getting her to say why efforts by Akume administration did not help Taraku mills on phone were equally unsuccessful as phone services were bad.

Similarly, efforts to locate Grow Rich Company failed as its whereabouts were unknown.