This policy is bound to fail. The problem with GEJ is that he is trying to pacify Nigerians like little children crying for biscuit. This policy will not work and I am sure Dangote is ROFL privately with laughter. However, since GEJ wants to start fixing prices, he should start by making a bag of rice N1000 only.

GODSON2009:

its about time,the idea of dangote robbing peter to pay paul with impunity all these years should have been curtailed,its suprising however that when the rest of the world have graduated to using more environmentally friendly but durable materials to build houses we are still stuck with using an average of 1 ton of pure concrete on building which is apalling.
i fail to understand why we use concrete and blocks even for internal dividing walls in a hot climate

To divide walls inside needs pure skills, do we have places where people can learn this? no. we dont like learnin new things

gidson12:

from N1,400 to N2,300 a bag within a space of 3months, this people wan kill us

All the money spent in the last election by dangote and Otedula has to be recovered

1025, Jonathan is not a magician! Not sure what your waffle about Japan and America is about. Let us stick to Nigerian issues on NL. Cement prices literally doubled in weeks a few years back. It should not have been allowed and I am very happy that the government has decided to peer into activities concerning Dangote. Life is more than being listed on Forbes.

He might as well decree 24hrs electricity supply in 90 days!!!! Don't our leaders go to school at all!!!!! WHy not just analyse the issues and address those, instead he's "decreeing" prices downwards!!! The guy is really daft!!

Permit me pls. That directive is an insult. Who do they think they are fooling Economics 101, you cant decree Demand & Supply.

Mistake 101: GEJ persists in his gaffes. I want this man to succeed but he needs to help himself quickly by going back to school for simple management principles. They can give him evenong lesson at the BQ at Aso Rock.

The body language of Dangote & Rabiu (SAMAD) said it all. & am seriously hoping Dangote did not say 6,000 trucks were recently lost as that will say a lot about how his business is run!!

Anyway, its all a charade & by the way, who weighs cement after he/she purchases it The price might come down & the weight might also reduce to 48kg, if it does, who do we report to??

Mistakes have already bn made, GEJ, lets look for intelligent solutions pls!

The rich do not want the poor to build houses any more.I see some of them sad at this news.Rubbish!

I think that the government is on the right track by stepping in.

To people questioning whether Nigeria is a capitalist economy, Nigeria sure is but the cement industry is not a “free market.” In other words, new market entrants are not allowed to come in because the government grants exclusive rights to produce/import cement to the selected 5 companies (or however many they are).

Whenever there’s a restriction on new market entrants due to nature of the business, the government has no choice but to create some kind of regulation to govern the oligarchy. In a free market, business people will be allowed to import/produce cement if they have the money to fund such a venture.

hail GEJ

I love this one GEJ is up to now, now warning to Landlords and Landladies you must reduce your rent now or face the wrath of GEJ

What next? Telling makers of his fleet of jets its too costly.
You can't tell a private person with his own investment, how much he should sell his product, unless you build your own factory and start crashing the price yourself.

How Nigerians, especially the so called lettered ones celebrates pure mediocrity is beyond belief.

What people don’t understand is that free market principles work in advanced economies because of antitrust policing by the government. In the US, we have a law called Sherman Act that makes it a felony, for a company that has monopoly in a market by willfully acquiring power through means other than superior product, to create an agreement that inhibits competition.

Even though I have zero evidence to back up what I’m about to say, I think the cement manufacturers are colluding (directly or indirectly) to price-fix. Why compete to reduce price, which will reduce your profit margin when you can all agree raise price to earn more profit?

The problem is that Nigeria is not advanced enough to enforce antitrust laws even if it is in the books.

Eziachi:

What next? Telling makers of his fleet of jets its too costly.
You can't tell a private person with his own investment, how much he should sell his product, unless you build your own factory and start crashing the price yourself.

If a private company is a monopoly, the government can regulate how the company deals with other companies. For example, in the US, if Microsoft decides to buy their competitor, Apple, the government will most likely say no.

I don’t know how familiar you are with what’s going on the US, but about a month ago, AT&T decided to buy T-mobile for $39 billion in cash and stocks and the government might block the merger.

Here’s an article related to what I said http://blogs.forbes.com/elizabethwoyke/2011/03/28/sprint-asks-government-to-block-attt-mobile-transaction/

Another waste of time directive  - How does GEJ intend to achieve this.  I laugh in yoruba  . yet many Nigerians are rejoicing .  In this country sha we like to celebrate " MEDIOCRITY"  We dont live in dictatorship era - so it wont work in Nigeria .  This is not Venezuela.   We have all seen with the telecommunication industry how increased competition forces down prices and not dictatorship directive.  The monopoly of cement making has to be broken  - until then GEJ/Masses are wasting their time.  this time Next year a b\g cement will be 5000 Naira.  watch this space.

Why did mr.president waited this long?These excuses are outrageous by relating the hike in price to post election violence infact, 3month b4 election cement was sold #2,200 in lagos.

This is what YAR ADUA TRIED TO DO before the Policy was reserved because Dangote was not happy

Date of the article  - 5 July 2009

Prices of cement have been on the rise and government, in a bid to check trend, gave import licence to some Nigerians to import the commodity with a view to bringing down its price.


As a result, President Yar'Adua had last year lifted the ban on importation of bulk cement and granted import licences to six new firms along with the existing cement manufacturers to flood the market with the product and force prices down.

Cement manufacturers in the country have petitioned the Presidency alleging that the Ministry of Commerce had opened the gate for the importation of the product into the country, thus jeopardising their investments.

The petition, spearheaded by Alhaji Aliko Dangote is currently receiving the attention of President Umaru Yar'Adua, who has directed the Minister of Finance, Mr. Mansur Mukhtar, to constiuting the Committee, the Minister of Finance is on a fact-finding tour of cement plants in the country.

''first, y give 30 days ,i think 15 days altimatum shld do it. and i think GEJ should not stop with cement, flood the market with indomie, yam , sugar , flour, etc.
yeye. when does govt start meddling with enterprise.
another thing is that dangote man , 5000 more trucks with our dilapidated roads, abeg of una when traveling be careful of dangote trucks oh.''
@poster

I can't agree less with you. Just two about 2 weeks, some of those trailers ran into a loaded truck with PMS on Lagos-Ibadan road and more than 4 tankers/trailers were lost to the inferno. Ironically, an additional 5,000 ''DANGOTE TRAILER'' means more death trap for innocent Nigerians, but why?? why would dangote buy more trucks on the already deplorable, ''jagajaga'', death-trap road in nigeria.

Personally, i don't think there are policies that control how many nos of trailer an individual money-bag can buy.
One questions that beg for an answer is ''has Dangote or his allies( as he said') ever paid the families of those who died as a result of brake failure of one of those trailers. May be someday i mean one day if such trailer ran into the convoy of a sitting senator, Governor, and their cronies, then such policy will be reviewed.

i don't see any solution in the purchase of another 5000 trailer by Dangote, but if such money can be pumped into d Nigerian railway line project, and dangote can partnered some of other money bag, to ensure a public-private partnership railway line, then NIGERIA WILL BE A BETTER PLACE AND OUR ROADS WILL STAND THE TEST OF TIME

Beaf:

I was struck by the very same question too. However, it doesn't take vey long to conclude that Nigeria's economy knows no sane description (and its all due to our fake federalism).

How do you have a capitalist state that runs one of the highest scale welfarist systems in the World? I'm talking about the need to sahare money monthly from Abuja, cos the states can't produce zilch. Even at the peak of communism, the Soviet Union did not have such a centralised beggar bowl welfare system.

Until we grow strong institutions and address our constitutional, structural weaknesses and throw off the last vestiges of the premeval culture inherited from our unfortunate history of military regimes, we will be wasting time and decieving ourselves that Nigeria can be described as communist, capitalist, socialist, welfarist or any other sane description. Nigeria simply has no description, but there's the opportunity to begin building.

I am honestly surprised this is coming from @Beaf. I swear, this is the first time I am reading something sensible coming from the guy. I always attack him whenever he puts across weak and dangerous arguments. But on this, you have done well. Keep it up. You are welcomed to the progressive thinkers' side.

is this not one of the same things buhari did back then for which he was vilified by nls gej apologists ?

how dare gej impose conditions on manufacturers when he has failed to create an enabling environment they should fire back to him - we will crash our prices as soon as nigeria gets the much touted 6000mw

nonsense

diesel is now at 160 per litre , another tanker driver strike is looming because of this . i use petrol generators, so i'm not directly affected - but i hear diesels users complaining every day.

As for me, it is good news. Something should be done about the cement prices. As at last week, a bag was sold for 2,500naira.

Its difficult for salary earners to build houses these days unless he is into extra curricular activities like politics and fraud.

Actuall i think as president, he has well done, cos' he now has what it takes to regulate the our fiscal policies and the way we manage our market. bearing in mind that he is just a spoke Man, the decision must have been taken by those who know.

that's the way i see it, sha. i stand to be corrected if wrong.


Good stride, GEJ

Four cement manufacturers write Jonathan for import license


Date of the Article was  FEBRUARY 28, 2011


FOUR indigenous cement manufacturers under the auspices of the Cement New Entrants Stakeholders have written to President Goodluck Jonathan, requesting him to grant each of them import license for five million metric tons of cement between now and 2015.

In a letter dated February 16 and addressed to the President, the four new entrants with own terminal: Prince David Iweta of Madewell Products Limited; Vincent Nehikhare of Eastern Bulkcem Company Limited; Chief Reagan Ufomba of Cement Company Limited; and Kola Sowande of Westcom Technologies & Energy Services Ltd, said granting them import license was a sure way to forcing down cement price to N1,000 per bag and breaking the current monopoly of a cabal in the industry.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/02/four-cement-manufacturers-write-jonathan-for-import-license/



iF GEJ really cares about the Nigerian Masses  - he knows what to do  - but rather he chooses to issue a directive to his friend begging them to reduce the price of cement.      

Who is he deceiving.

Whastever, gud move all the same.

I'm not familiar with the cement monopoly in Nigeria but looks like the govt is trying to set a "Price Ceiling" on cement, this will cause shortage. If I were him, I will set aside manufacturing for competitiveness and let the market soon decide;when the govt steps into a market and makes fix prices rather than the market deciding, this is no rocket science, it will fail sooner or later. It's more like running before walking.

blacksta:

This is what YAR ADUA TRIED TO DO before the Policy was reserved because Dangote was not happy

Date of the article  - 5 July 2009

Prices of cement have been on the rise and government, in a bid to check trend, gave import licence to some Nigerians to import the commodity with a view to bringing down its price.


As a result, President Yar'Adua had last year lifted the ban on importation of bulk cement and granted import licences to six new firms along with the existing cement manufacturers to flood the market with the product and force prices down.

That is what a sincere man would do but not a dumb like the one we have

till then

king-child:

Actuall i think as president, he has well done, cos' he now has what it takes to regulate the our fiscal policies and the way we manage our market. bearing in mind that he is just a spoke Man, the decision must have been taken by those who know.

that's the way i see it, sha. i stand to be corrected if wrong.


Good stride, GEJ

Please can you tell us what he has, I thing he does not have an idea

manny4life:

I'm not familiar with the cement monopoly in Nigeria but looks like the govt is trying to set a "Price Ceiling" on cement, this will cause shortage. If I were him, I will set aside manufacturing for competitiveness and let the market soon decide;when the govt steps into a market and makes fix prices rather than the market deciding, this is no rocket science, it will fail sooner or later. It's more like running before walking.

 You are good. There will soon be shortage that will force the price higher up.

Good news for me. I do not care what you people analyse here but in 30 days just go buy atleast 100 bags for my project shekena!

Bensonite:

Good news for me. I do not care what you people analyse here but in 30 days just go buy atleast 100 bags for my project shekena!

Obviously you will, hopefully you go back 120days later, and I hope that you are able to buy another 100bags

oga oooooo