The Past, Present and Future Outlook of the Wood Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria’s vegetational diversity ranging from mangrove swamp along the southern coast through freshwater swamp, lowland rainforest and savanna, progressively into the interior of the country makes possible the growth of over 560 indigenous species of tropical hardwoods, many of which grow to merchantable dimensions. Hence, wood processing for domestic consumption and exportation played a vital role in the Nigerian economy from the late 1700s up till early 1970s, with the 1960s often referred to as the golden age of Nigerian forestry. However, due to forest resources mismanagement, infrastructural deficiencies, economic recession and other factors, the industry fell on hard times beginning from the mid-1970s. While primary wood processing establishments including timber logging, sawmilling and charcoal making managed to survive, virtually all the secondary wood processing factories, excluding those involved in furniture production, became defunct by the year 2000. Although a set of newer medium-sized plywood and match production factories have emerged in recent years, massive importation of secondary wood products has become inevitable in the face of rapid population growth, urbanization, deforestation and desertification. This chapter discusses the past, the present and the future of the wood industry in Nigeria.

1. Introduction

Wood usually forms the stem of a tree though it is not all plants that possess woody stems. It is also not all woody stems that produce timber suitable for use as industrial material. According to current estimates, the earth contains about one trillion tonnes of wood, which grows at a rate of 10 billion tonnes per year [1]. Woody plants that produce merchantable timber are divided into two broad groups, i.e. softwoods and hardwoods. Softwoods (also known as conifers or gymnosperms) are cone-bearing trees which tend to have needle-like or scale-like evergreen leaves. Hardwood trees (deciduous trees or angiosperms), on the other hand, usually have broad leaves that are shed annually.

The vegetation of Nigeria can be broadly classified into two types, i.e. forests and savanna. The forests can be further subdivided into mangrove, freshwater swamps and tropical rainforest, while the savanna can be subdivided into Sahel, Sudan, Northern Guinea, Southern Guinea, and derived savannas. The diversity in vegetation makes possible the growth of different species of tropical hardwood species, many of which grow to merchantable dimensions, i.e. up to 12 m height and 0.6 m girth. The lowland rainforest which occupies the southern one-quarter of the country has carried the burden of supply of timbers for domestic consumption and export for ages, while the savannas supply fuelwood and a variety of minor forest products used for food, medicines and industrial raw materials. Species such as Milicia excelsa, Khaya ivorensis and Triplochiton scleroxylon were very common in cocoa farms all over Western Nigeria, Khaya senegalensis trees were very common in the savanna areas, while Terminalia superba, Antiaris africana and other lesser-used species were commonly found in the secondary forests in times past [2, 3].

Timber exploitation predates the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in 1900 and the creation of Nigeria as a single entity and British colony in 1914. For example, a forestry department was established for the protectorate of Southern Nigeria in 1899, while a forestry proclamation was passed in 1901 to control concessions and regulate timber exploitation; two forest ordinances were also promulgated in 1908 and 1916, respectively, that contained further regulations for the control of timber exploitation. Plantation forestry commenced in the country in the early 1930s and forest reserves established in different agro-ecological zones across the country were licensed for timber exploitation [3, 4]. The notable indigenous plantation species include Terminalia species, Triplochiton scleroxylon, Lovoa trichilioides, Nauclea diderrichii and Cedrela odorata, while the four major exotic plantation species are Tectona grandis, Eucalyptus spp., Gmelina arborea and Pinus spp. [5].

Wood products have, from time immemorial, played a significant role in satisfying the basic human needs for energy, shelter, transportation, durable and non-durable goods of all blends. In the early parts of the eighteenth century, timber for the construction of ships became essential for nations that controlled the seas for trade and/or territorial expansion. Prior to the invention of modern plywood, the ancient Mesopotamians had produced plywood as far back as around 3400 B.C. Paper, the first prepared composite wood fibre, was invented by Egyptians more than 3000 years ago, while fuelwood from the forests of continental Europe provided source of energy that powered the Industrial Revolution during the early stages of its development [6].

Primary and secondary wood products have also always played a vital role in the Nigerian economy. In the 1960s up until the mid-70s, wood-based forest industries earned substantial foreign exchange and ranked the highest among local industries in terms of employment generation [3, 4, 7]. The major products included are as follows:

• Posts used principally for fencing, scaffolding, rafting and as columns and wall plates for farm houses, sheds, livestock buildings, storage structures, beams for drying platforms, and generally for fencing.

• Poles used principally to support telephone, electrical transmission lines, pit props, piles, studs, columns, beams, wall plates, rafters, and purlins, and for scaffolding in building construction.

• Logs used for lumber manufacture.

• Firewood and charcoal used for cooking, heating and power production.

• Lumber used for building construction, furniture making, etc.

• Plywood, particleboard and fibreboard utilised in diverse forms in building construction, furniture making, packaging, etc.

• Paper and paper products including newsprint, stationery paper for writing, drawing, printing, photocopying, etc., and cardboards or paperboards for packaging.

• Various wooden items such as tool handles, sport goods, weaving equipment, and wooden toys.

Engineered wood products such as Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), Parallel Strand Lumber (PSL), Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL) and Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) are not yet available in the country [1].

The building industry alone consumes about 80% of Nigeria’s total annual timber production. Also, the sawmilling and furniture production constitute over 70% of the wood industry in terms of wood consumption, employment generation and business volume. This is not unexpected since Nigeria currently has the largest population in Africa (estimated at around 200 million, approximately 16.8% of whom are youths aged between 15 and 35 years), as well as a relatively high population growth rate (2.53%) and urbanisation growth rate of 2.8–3% per annum. By 2050, the population would have doubled to over 400 million people. These statistics do not only explain the reasons behind large consumption but also have significant implications for future demand for wood products. However, Nigeria has witnessed a progressive deterioration in wood supply for over five decades. The two decades spanning 1950–1970 that witnessed massive exploitation of timber resources laid the foundation for the subsequent deficits in timber supply in the country [4]. Once noted as a major exporter, by 1970, Nigeria could no longer sustain wood exports and by 1972, one of the country’s richer forest areas had been degraded down to an average of three merchantable trees per acre [8]. This led to the prohibition of exportation of round logs and sawnwood in 1979. To worsen the situation, Nigeria lost 6,145,000 hectares (approximately 35.7%) of its forest cover between 1990 and 2005 due to over-exploitation and other factors [9]. Many of the large-scale secondary wood processing establishments closed down within this period resulting in Nigeria becoming a major importer of plywood, particleboard, fibreboard, matches, paper and paper products. It was only in the last few years that a new set of wood processing establishments have started to emerge, some of which rely on bamboo as the substitute raw material.

This chapter provides an insight into the past (1782–1999), present (2000 to date) and future outlook of the wood industry in Nigeria.

2. The past (1782–1999)

Nigerian forests of old contained over 560 indigenous species and have supported commercial timber logging for many decades. However, only about four of the merchantable species (Khaya spp., Manilkara lacera, Ochrocarpus spp. and wild rubber) were heavily exploited in commercial quantities beginning from around 1890. Between 1925 and 1940, successful outcomes of laboratory tests conducted on samples of Nigerian timbers in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe led to an increase in the number of accepted species in overseas markets from approximately 4 in 1910 to 40 in 1940 and about 100 in 1960 [4, 8, 10]. The other species were grossly under-exploited until the country began to experience timber famine beginning from the late 1970s. Some of the uncommercialised species posed formidable exploitation challenges – offensive sap odour, high buttresses and deep fluted or thorny boles, unmanageable dimensions too difficult and/or too dangerous to fell with the available logging equipment or too small to handle with the available log conversion machines, etc. [8].

The 1960s, often described as the golden age of Nigerian forestry, was also the beginning of its doom. The period was characterised by mismanagement and misuse of forest resources, with only the choicest portions of the most valuable timber species extracted for export markets. It was reported that only about 10% of the volume of trees felled was extracted, the remaining 90% being left to rot in the forest [4].

Sawmilling industry came into existence in 1782 with the establishment of a pit-sawing station in the then Lagos colony. Pit-sawing is a two-man operation involving the use of long handsaw. The log being sawn is supported on a long trestle about 2.5 m off the ground. One man stands inside the pit, while the other man stands on the log. Sawing is done with successive up and down movement of the handsaw. By 1887, pit-sawing (Figure 1) had become a small but thriving industry consisting of scattered groups of pit-sawyers supplying scantlings and boards to meet local requirements for lumber and railway sleepers. The first mechanised sawmill was established by the colonial government in 1907, the same year extensive private participation in sawmilling commenced, leading to rapid numerical growth of the industry [10].

Figure 1.

Pit-sawing operation.

The wide latitude in production capacities ranging from 3m³ of lumber per day achievable in mobile and semi-mobile installations to over 50m³ achievable by big mills made sawmilling an attractive investment for small- and big-time investors. (Table 1 shows trend in capital investment requirements in small-scale sawmills between 1969 and 1999). The small-scale mills operated a single shift of 10 hours per day, 6 days a week and 35 weeks per annum. Mobile horizontal bandmills (Figure 2) were generally used for primary conversion of logs. The log-handling capacities of these machines ranged from 1.2 to 1.9 m in terms of log girth, while the sawing speed ranged between 180 and 240 revolutions per minute. Circular saws were commonly used for resawing operations such as crosscutting, edging and trimming of lumber. The rate of return on investment in a mobile horizontal bandmill operated one shift daily ranged from about 31% if the mill sawed on contract to 70% if the mill had forest concessions and undertook its own logging operations [11, 12, 13, 14].

Period	Average capital investment requirement (Naira)	Average capital investment requirement (US $)	Percentage increase over 1969–1974 cost (%)
1969–1974	25,000.00	250.00	—
1975–1979	70,000.00	700.00	180
1980–1984	125,000.00	1250.00	4900
1985–1989	Not available	Not Available	—
1990–1994	1.5 million	15,000.00	5900
1995–1999	2 million	20,000.00	7900

Table 1.

Trends in capital investment requirements in small-scale sawmills in Nigeria: 1969 to 1999*.

*

These estimates, based on prevailing exchange rates for each period, exclude costs of logging equipment since these are generally absent in the mills [11, 22, 23].

Source:

Year	Estimated number of sawmills
1939	16
1949	21
1959	35
1969	80
1979	1000
1989	1500
1999	1700

Table 2.

Numerical growth in the sawmilling establishments in Nigeria: 1939–1999.

Sources: Mackay (1946), Okigbo (1964), Anonymous (1993), Akande (1993), Ogunwusi (2012).

Figure 2.

A Horizontal Bandmill. Source: [14].

There were about 16 sawmills in Nigeria by 1939. This number had more than doubled by 1952, risen to 80 in 1964 and over 1,300 by 1999, majority being small-scale mills. The very first large-scale sawmill in the country, the United African Company (UAC) sawmill, was established in Sapele (now located in Delta State) in 1925. As shown in Table 2, the tremendous numerical growth experienced in the 1970s and 1980s when there was an upsurge in the demand for lumber created by the post-Nigerian Civil War reconstruction activities and the oil boom, however, declined in the 1990s due to economic recession [5, 11, 15].

The principal agencies that cause deterioration or destruction of timber are weather, fire, fungi, insects and marine borers. Adequate protection from the influence of these agents may indefinitely prolong the life of timber. Wood preservation can therefore be broadly defined as the protection of wood from fire, chemical agents (e.g. strong acids and alkalis), mechanical wear weathering and biological attack by agents such as fungi and insects. Most preservative treatments are, however, performed to protect timber products against attacks from fungi, insects (mainly beetles and termites) and fire. Wooden poles for power transmission, railway sleepers, lumber, plywood, furniture parts, wood carvings, particleboards, joinery materials, etc., are usually treated with preservatives against biodegradation. Many Nigerian timber species traded in commercial quantities were naturally durable, while others were perishable. By 1964, demand for treated wooden poles exceeded 10,000 units. As of 1977, there were about 20 well-established wood treatment plants handling electric/telegraphic poles and lumber. The number of the treatment plants had decreased to 16 by 1988 by which time the total production output was about 55,000 m³ per annum [2, 5, 16].

Timber preservation processes were targeted at the moderately permeable perishable timbers. The choice of preservative and treatment processes depended largely on the ability of the timbers to absorb preservatives. Some were practically impermeable even under pressure treatment. Others were resistant to penetration and only limited protection could be given by treatment, impregnation being either superficial or patchy. At the other end of the scale were timbers that absorbed preservatives readily which were adequately treated by steeping in cold preservatives. Permeability classification as specified in the Nigerian code of Practice for Timber Design published in 1973 involved grouping timbers into five classes according to the degree of penetration obtainable by hot and cold open tank treatment and by cold steeping. These were as follows:

Class I – Extremely resistant.

These were timbers that were extremely resistant to penetration for which impregnation by prolonged open tank treatment was insignificant and treatment using this method was therefore impracticable, e.g. Afrormosia elata, Albizia spp., and Lophira alata.

Class II – Very resistant.

These were timbers that were very resistant to penetration – lateral penetration being about 3 mm to 15 mm, and end penetration about 1.5 to 13 mm. Such timbers, e.g. Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum, Khaya grandifoliola and Khaya senegalensis, could be given moderate protection by short-term open tank treatment.

Class III – Resistant.

These were timbers that allowed reasonably good penetration by the open tank process. Lateral penetration was over 1.5 mm and could be considerably more, but absorption was not very heavy. End penetration of such timbers, e.g. Anogeissus leiocarpus, Cordia millennii and Distemonanthus benthamianus, was usually deep.

Class IV – Moderately resistant.

These were timbers that allowed good penetration, heavy absorption and deep penetration with the open tank process. Most of these timbers, e.g. Holoptelea grandis, Triplochiton scleroxylon, etc., were given moderately good protection by prolonged cold steeping.

Class V – Permeable.

These were timbers that absorbed very large quantities of preservatives and could generally be given almost complete impregnation either by open tank treatment or cold steeping. No elaborate impregnation plant was required for treating them. Examples include Alstonia boonei and Antiaris Africana,

In general, the wood preservation sector was not fully developed, and preservation against fire in particular was virtually completely neglected.

Drying, also commonly referred to as seasoning, is an essential process in lumber manufacture. Seasoning improves strength. It may prevent warping and splitting, thus ensuring product stability in service. It also prevents rot and decay and facilitates preservative penetration and acceptance of paints and polishes when required. Air-drying is the oldest method of wood seasoning. Modern lumber seasoning methods involve forced-air-drying in either electrically or solar-powered kilns. Regrettably, the wood seasoning sector of the wood industry was also not fully developed. In 1983, there were only about five timber drying kilns in the country [8]. Much of the timber was piled out-of-door to be air-dried without any protection beyond the use of some primitive form of roof in some instances. Timber products air-dried in this manner included railway sleepers, poles and planks. It was possible to dry timber down to about 12% in the dry season in the South and still further in the North, but 18% was a more usual figure in the rainy season in the South.

The origin of furniture making is rooted in carpentry and joinery which were carried out in the timber-producing areas of the country from time immemorial. Wood products (i.e. lumber, particleboard and plywood) and rattan were the two major raw materials employed. By the late1990s, about 200 large-scale wooden furniture establishments were in operation in the country. There were, also, numerous (unquantified) small-scale furniture makers operating from modestly equipped workshops largely operated by craftsmen [17, 18, 19].

Traditional charcoal making also has a long history in the savanna areas of Nigeria where the locally available wood species were dense, slow-growing and highly lignified, thus giving a good charcoal yield when carbonised. The relatively short wet season and correspondingly long dry season experienced in savanna areas facilitate fuelwood drying with minimum loss through insect attack and fungi decay. It also prolongs the charcoal production period, making it an almost all-year-round operation. To meet domestic energy requirements, fuelwood plantations were established near several towns and villages, including Ibadan, Ejigbo, Ede, Ogbomoso, Jos, Kano and Ilorin in the 1950s [20]. Virtually, all the charcoal supply in the country was made by small business enterprises with low capital investment. The two methods widely used for charcoal production and which involved the use of earth as a barrier in the charring process were the open pit and the earth mound methods. The use of earth to keep out oxygen and to insulate the carbonising wood against excessive heat loss goes back to the dawn of history. Both methods are still commonly employed for charcoal production across sub-Saharan Africa. The open pit method involves digging out a pit, putting in firewood and covering the hole with excavated earth to seal and insulate the chamber. This method is often used where the soil is well drained, deep and loamy. Bolts of wood cut into length of 1–2.4 m are prepared and closely stacked in rectangular pits with a capacity of about 4 to 5 m³ of fuelwood charge per burn (a typical small pit may measure 3 m long by 1.2 m wide and 1.2 m deep). After stacking, the bolts are covered with leaves and grasses, usually about 20 cm thick. Sand is spread evenly over the leaves to the same thickness. Carbonisation may last for 20 to 30 days resulting in marked reduction of the wood charge to between 50 and 70% of its initial volume [20]. The earth mound method involves covering a pile of wood on the ground with earth, sand and leaves. The cover usually consists of a lower layer usually made with leaves, straw or grass, and an upper layer of sandy soil or loam, applied approximately 20 to 25 cm thick. This cover forms the necessary gas-tight layer behind which charcoaling can take place. This method is commonly used where the soil is rocky, hard or shallow, or the water table is close to the surface.

Secondary wood processing commenced in Nigeria with the transformation of the UAC sawmill, Sapele, into the first integrated facility engaged in sawmilling, veneer and plywood production in 1948. The company was later renamed African Timber and Plywood, Sapele. It was reputed to be the first plywood mill in West Africa [11]. About 20 years later, the first paper mill, Nigerian Paper Mill in Jebba, Niger State, was established in 1967, while commercial particleboard production started in 1977. By the mid-1980s, there were six plywood and veneers mills in operation with an estimated log input capacity of 270,000 m³ per annum, two particleboard mills with combined log input capacity of 55,000 m³ per annum, seven match factories with estimated log input capacity of 75,000 m³ per annum, and three paper mills. The Nigerian Paper Mill, Jebba, had two paper-making machines, each with a capacity of about 33,000 tonnes/annum and a complete 32,000 tonnes/annum pulping plant. The pulping plant was utilising mixed tropical hardwood, bamboo, Gmelina, and Pinewoods. The second mill, the Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company, Oku-Iboku, Itu, Cross River State, was established in 1975 and started operation in 1986 with two paper machines each having a rated at capacity of 50,000 tonnes per annum but has remained shut since 1994. The third mill, the Nigerian National Paper Manufacturing Company Limited, Iwopin, Ogun State (formerly Iwopin Pulp and Paper Company), with a rated production capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum commenced paper production in February 1995 but was never fully operational. By end of the 1990s, there were 10 plywood mills, 4 particleboard mills, 8 match factories, 3 pulp and paper mills, and 8 wood treatment plants in the country [8, 10, 16, 21].

3. The present (2000 to date)

The current main sources of log supply for the wood industry in Nigeria are natural forests consisting of secondary forests, farmlands and derived savanna, forest reserves, forest plantations, and Taungya farms. Taungya system as practised in the humid rainforest zone in Southern Nigeria is a method of joint production of food and forest tree crops using free farmer labour input [4]. In many cases, semi-manual logging method, involving combined use of power chain saws and axes, is employed in tree felling. Two means of log transportation are generally employed. These are water transportation in the riverine (swampy) areas which will not support heavy logging equipment and road transportation with timber lorries. However, harvesting of at least 26 Nigerian-grown hardwood tree species was banned in different states across the country as far back as 1999 (Table 3) due to their endangered status [1]. The other major challenges facing timber loggers in the country include as follows:

• The very rapid rate of deforestation and desertification in many parts of the country leading to log supply crisis.

• Lack of appropriate logging equipment and facilities. Full-scale logging season is just about 5 months, i.e. November to early March. Only minimal logging is possible during the rainy season between April and October.

S/No	Species	Local trade name	State(s) where harvesting has been banned
1	Afzelia africana	Apa	Imo
2	Afrormosia elata	Afrormosia	Cross River
3	Canarium schweinfurthii	Origbo	Plateau
4	Diospyros mespiliformis	Kanran	Ondo, Imo
5	Erythrophleum ivorense	Erun	Rivers
6	Erythrophleum spp.	Erun obo	Ekiti
7	Funtumia spp.	Ako Ire or Ire Benin	Cross River
8	Gossweilerodendron balsamiferum	Agba	Ekiti
9	Guarea spp.	Olofun	Ogun
10	Holoptelea grandis	Inajoko	Ekiti
11	Irvingia spp.	Oro	Cross River
12	Isoberlinia doka	Isoberlinia,	Niger
13	Khaya grandifoliola	Benin Mahogany	Enugu, Kaduna, Kwara
14	Khaya ivorensis	Lagos Mahogany	Rivers
15	Khaya senegalensis	Dry Zone Mahogany	Kaduna, Kebbi, Kwara, Plateau
16	Lophira alata	Ekki	Ondo, Imo
17	Mansonia altissima	Mansonia	Ekiti, Imo, Ogun, Osu
18	Milicia excelsa	Iroko	Abia, Osun, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, Kwara, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers
19	Mitragyna stipulosa	Abura	Ekiti, Ogun
20	Nauclea diderrichii	Opepe	Ekiti, Enugu
21	Nauclea latifolia	Opepe	Niger
22	Nesogordonia papaverifera	Otutu	Ekiti
23	Pterocarpus erinaceus	Apepe	Kano
24	Pterocarpus osun	Osun	Kaduna
25	Triplochiton scleroxylon	Obeche (Arere)	Abia
26	Uapaca spp.	Akin	Ebonyi, Imo

Table 3.

Tree species banned from harvest in different states in Nigeria since 1999.

Source: [1].

The sawmilling industry is still predominated by small-scale privately owned enterprises located in clusters within and outside the towns and cities in the wood-producing areas and constituting the largest wood processing industry in the country in terms of numerical strength, geographical spread, wood consumption and employment generation. There is a preponderance of semi-illiterates in the workforce of these mills in view of the fact that manual input into sawmilling operations is considerable. Conversion planning decisions involving the determination of appropriate opening face and optimum sawing method are left to the judgements of the sawyer, who, in turn, relies solely on intuition and past experiences. It is therefore often difficult to predict with sufficient accuracy log conversion efficiency [14]. A reversal of this trend requires the introduction of some form of mechanisation such as the use of cranes and gantries to replace human labour in log-handling operations and proper staff education.

The prevalence of sole proprietorship in sawmilling enterprises delimits owners’ access to investment funds. Raising capital for modernising production facilities could be challenging. A recent positive development is that quite a vast number of log conversion machines, e.g. band saws, circular saws, frame saws, thicknessers, mortising and tenoning machines, and saw doctoring equipment, are now manufactured locally which make them relatively cheaper than imported ones and also promote local knowledge and skills development. Setting up small-scale sawmills without importation of machinery is therefore becoming increasingly popular. However, in general, the sawing technology and type of machinery employed in Nigerian sawmills are less sophisticated than what obtains in the developed countries where, by the 1970s, there had emerged large-sized sawmills with full automation and extensive computerisation of log-processing activities [11, 22, 23].

The wood preservation sector experienced a brief period of awakening in the early 2000s when numerous small-scale treated pole retail outlets sprang up in many parts of the country. This was due to the move by different State Governments to electrify the rural areas and the simultaneous move by the Federal Government to extend telephone lines to all Local Governments Headquarters. Wood seasoning has remained largely based on traditional air-drying. Wooden furniture production has also remained dominated by small-scale enterprises with much fewer number of medium- and large-scale factories. These furniture workshops generally turn out a wide range of products, including assorted household, school and office furniture, produced in different styles and qualities. The current challenges facing the furniture production include are as follows:

• inadequate supply of mature logs is attributable to the dwindling availability of woods of choice species in the forests and the rising cost of logging.

• rapidly escalating cost of wood raw material.

• dearth of wood seasoning kilns resulting in the scarcity of well-seasoned lumber particularly during the rainy season.

• low level of literacy among the workers coupled with lack of appropriate educational facilities for employee training/retraining which is hindering modernisation and productivity.

• frequent electricity outages and voltage fluctuation which often halt production, damage equipment and affect product quality [7, 17, 19, 22].

Apprenticeship remains the major form of pre-employment training available for a vast majority of new entrants into sawmilling, furniture and other sectors of the wood industry, with no clearly specified training duration [1, 15, 17, 18, 23]. While there is nothing patently wrong with apprenticeship as a form of training, the unstructured format is deficient in terms of performance monitoring and evaluation of apprentices. Two of the consequential effects of this situation are the unsustainable use of wood raw materials and poor product quality.

Charcoal production still thrives in the savanna regions of the country. The notable charcoal depots are located in Oyo, Iseyin, Saki, Igbo-Ora and Ogbomoso in the south-western region; Jebba, Omu Aran, Egbe and Kabba in the Central region; and Minna, Jos and Kaduna in the north-western region. Table 4 shows a list of the species of wood commonly used for charcoal production. However, the primitive pit and the earth mound techniques are still used for charcoal production in the country. Both methods could produce reasonably good charcoal acceptable in the local market if properly carried out. These methods have survived largely because of their simplicity and cheapness.

S/No.	Wood species
1	Afzelia africana
2	Anogeissus leiocarpus
3	Burkea Africana
4	Cassia siamea
5	Casuarina equisetifolia
6	A. africana
7	Anogeissus leiocarpus
8	Burkea Africana
9	C. siamea
10	C. equisetifolia
11	Gliricidia sepium
12	Gmelina arborea
13	Isoberlinia doka
14	Khaya senegalensis
15	Parkia biglobosa
16	Pericopsis laxiflora
17	Prosopis africana
18	Pterocarpus erinaceus
19	Tectona grandis
20	Terminalia catappa
21	Leucaena leucocephala
22	Spondias mombin
23	Vitellaria paradoxa

Table 4.

Wood species used for charcoal production in Nigeria.

Sources: Dada (1990), Adeniji et al. (2015).

The locally produced charcoal usually reaches its ultimate domestic user by a simple route involving wholesalers and retailers. The fewness of the links in the supply chain ensures economy of distribution. Retail points include markets sand makeshift stands along major roads. Retailing is done using the volume approach, i.e. selling in bags, baskets and other simple containers. This method renders invalid the addition of water and other adulterants and discourages mixing in fines to increase weight. It also reduces the chances of mishandling the charcoal in such a way that more fines are produced, which would reduce the bulk volume. However, the charcoal cannot compete effectively in international markets due to gross variation in quality [20, 24]. Forest certification and chain-of-custody certification which are now used to track wood from the forest through harvesting and manufacturing to the point of sale have led to quantitative restrictions on imports of such unsustainably produced charcoal. Some charcoal producers’ associations have, however, established tree plantations for sustainable charcoal production in recent years. Efforts are also being made to create awareness and promote adoption modern kilns for charcoal production with wood, bamboo and agricultural residues. Specifically, brick and metal kilns which are more effective and give good quality and yields of charcoal are being promoted.

The seven match factories in existence in 1988 had reduced to six in 1996 and three by 2002. The number of particleboard factories remained constant at 4 from 1992 to 2010 [16, 21]. Virtually all the large-scale paper, match production, plywood and particleboard mills in Nigeria went out of operation before 2015 due to the unabated economic recession of the previous two decades, electricity insecurity, and other factors. With the closure of the paper mills, the bulk of paper manufacturers in the country are engaged in mere paper conversion. Nigeria has been constrained to import large quantities of paper and paper products, plywood and particleboard. According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, Nigeria imports of paper and paperboard, articles of pulp, paper and board was US$696.51 million in 2020. A positive development is the springing up of new secondary wood processing factories in recent years. For example, a pencil and toothpick factory, located at Ekom Iman in Etinan Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, was commissioned in the second quarter of 2017. The factory produces toothpicks from bamboo. Running 8 hours a day, three major production machines combine to give a daily output of 30,000–60,000 pencils. Also, a medium-scale plywood factory (Figure 3) located in Awa, Onna Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, was commissioned on September 21, 2019. A number of other factories are producing toilet rolls and allied products on large scale from bamboo in the country. It is not surprising that there is no significant development in the particleboard production sector, since particleboards are not so well accepted in the Nigerian market [16].

Figure 3.

A medium-scale plywood mill in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria.

4. The future outlook

In terms of dominant financial structure, small- and medium-scale enterprises are likely to dominate the primary and secondary wood processing sectors of the wood industry in Nigeria in the foreseeable future. One reason for this projection is the fact that for many wood processing enterprises, smallness has an advantage, access to raw materials and markets are largely unobstructed and minimal technical skills for production are required. The size and structure allow them the flexibility to endure adverse economic conditions. Also, these enterprises are usually more labour-intensive than larger firms, they have lower capital costs associated with job creation and they improve the efficiency of domestic markets by making productive and flexible use of scarce and/or underutilised resources. For example, small plants with production capacities of around 10 to 12 m³ of plywood per 8-hour shift, i.e. 13.5–16.2 m³ of green veneer, can be established to meet local demands [25]. However, there are challenges that must be tackled.

Research and Development efforts are required to produce effective and affordable log and lumber handling devices that can reduce the drudgery in timber logging and sawmilling [26]. The very high level of illiteracy among the workforce in the industry also has to be addressed. Establishing training centres and/or certification programmes for intending and current workers in the various sectors of the industry will go a long way in addressing the training needs. It is also important for the government to formulate policies and develop strategies that address the crosscutting issues of vocational education, i.e. quality and relevance of training, employability, collaboration between training institutions and employers, accreditation of training providers (in the formal, non-formal and informal sectors), assessment, certification, internal and external quality assurance of training programmes, funding, and instructor training.

In terms of markets, the future of the wood industry in Nigeria looks bright. This is because construction activities, in particular, gross fixed capital formation in dwellings, which has the most direct influence on the level of consumption of lumber and other wood products, is booming in the country, and the trend is most likely to continue into the foreseeable future in view of the demographic projections and the upsurge in the activities of private developers working with financial institutions to build large serviced estates in different parts of the country. This is notwithstanding the fact that the level of construction activities depends on other factors such as government policies on housing, the state of the existing housing stock, construction and land costs, disposable income, and interest rates.

In terms of raw material supply, the future of the wood industry in Nigeria will depend on how forest resources are managed, henceforth. In order to expand the raw material base for the different sectors of the industry in Nigeria, there is a need for the establishment of large-scale timber, bamboo and ratan plantations, utilisation of more of the lesser-used but proven timber species as well as partial substitution of wood with bamboo and rattans in building construction, furniture and charcoal production. Bamboos and rattans mature faster than wood; they are easier to harvest, transport and process; they are lightweight, durable and flexible; they accept paints and stains like wood; they possess structural properties sufficient for the demands of diverse handicraft and furniture products; and they can be worked into many styles. Besides, bamboo plantations in particular can be used for reforestation and restoration of degraded lands, thus utilising marginal lands that would otherwise be unproductive. Bamboo takes about 3 years to get established. Once established, the new shoots will continue to get bigger and more numerous from year to year as the colony grows towards maturity. Furthermore, the overall yield and profitability of bamboo plantations can be increased by means of intercropping with timber (e.g. Tectona grandis). A number of studies have been conducted on enhancing the utility of bamboo as a structural material in the country leading to generation and documentation of baseline information on the density, strength and other material properties of Bambusa vulgaris required for engineering design and the development of processes and equipment for bamboo furniture production [27, 28, 29, 30].

5. Conclusion

The wood industry in Nigeria has witnessed growth and decline in successions since its beginning over three centuries ago. It all started with timber logging from time immemorial followed by pit-sawing in 1782, sawmilling by 1907 and plywood manufacturing in 1948. A missing link was the full development of the wood preservative and seasoning sectors. The primary wood processing sectors did not witness any significant development in terms of mechanisation and/or automation of production process over the period reviewed. The timber logging and sawmilling sectors in particular witnessed major deficits in log supply. Excluding the furniture sector, all the other secondary wood processing sectors experienced a rise from a humble beginning to a decline in the early 2000s, with the collapse of virtually all the plywood, particleboard, match, pulp and paper production factories in the country. Fortunately, new plywood and match production factories are emerging. In conclusion, the future of the industry in Nigeria in terms of growth in consumer demand for wood products, is quite bright. However, raw material availability in sufficient quantities required to meet the demands; and the possibility of upscaling production and productivity are uncertain unless the highlighted sustainable intervention strategies are adopted.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.