Nigeria Sugar Institute serves entire industry, not select operators – NSDC clarifies
NSDC says the Nigeria Sugar Institute is a national platform providing research, training and technical support to all sugar industry players.
NIGERIA – The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has clarified the institutional status of the Nigeria Sugar Institute (NSI), stressing that the institute was established to serve the entire sugar industry rather than a limited group of operators.
Speaking in an interview, NSDC Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Kamar Bakrin said the NSI was created as a purpose-built national institution to provide research, training and technical support for Nigeria’s sugar sector under the strategic oversight of the council.
“The Nigeria Sugar Institute is a purpose-built national institution established to serve as the research, training and technical backbone of Nigeria’s sugar industry,” Bakrin said. “It operates under the strategic oversight of the NSDC and exists to ensure consistent access to quality planting materials, skilled manpower and credible technical expertise for the industry.”
According to Bakrin, the institute was incorporated in June 2019 and formally commissioned in January 2021, with its headquarters in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He explained that NSI was deliberately designed as a shared, industry-wide platform to consolidate research, manpower development and technical support in a single national hub.
Bakrin noted that NSI houses specialised bio-factory and tissue culture laboratories that play a critical role in varietal development, seedcane multiplication and applied research.
He said these facilities support both the sugar and ethanol value chains and are central to addressing long-standing challenges related to access to high-quality planting materials.
“As the Institute continues to scale and demonstrate value, discussions around broader industry participation and long-term support will naturally evolve.”
The NSDC chief also outlined reforms introduced since his appointment, aimed at repositioning NSI as a national centre of excellence. “We set out to reposition NSI into a fully functional, industry-facing centre for research, training and technical support,” he said.
“With the support of KPMG, we strengthened governance systems, clarified roles and aligned the Institute with global best practices,” Bakrin added.
Beyond governance reforms, he disclosed that NSDC prioritised human capacity development, with more than 60 NSI staff undergoing targeted managerial and technical training over the past two years.
Bakrin said NSI has also been repositioned as a national training hub through the NSDC/NSI Boot Camp initiative, delivering hands-on programmes in sugar processing, refining, quality control, industrial safety and environmental compliance.
Highlighting the impact of the reforms, he cited technical training programmes for Golden Sugar Estate in Sunti, Niger State, and field-to-factory training for new hires at BUA’s Lafiagi Sugar Company in Kwara State.
“When we speak about progress at NSI, we are talking about a systematic rebuilding of institutional capacity,” Bakrin said. “These reforms are positioning the Institute as a credible national centre of excellence for the sugar industry.”
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