The National Assembly is putting finishing touches on a bill that would ensure the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products by enforcing compliance to the policy.
The senator representing Abia South Senatorial District and chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Enyinnaya Abaribe, dropped this hint during the 2nd edition of the Made-in-Aba Trade Fair yesterday in Abuja, where he stated that the proposed bill would focus on patronage of products that Nigeria has the capacity to produce.
While stating that the fair was to celebrate the successes of cottage industries in Aba, which multiplier effects have, no doubt, contributed immensely to the economic growth and development of Nigeria, the senator who said, “Nigeria has no business importing those goods which do not measure up to the quality being produced in the country,” commended the people, manufacturers and traders in Aba for doing the nation proud through their spirit of enterprise and innovation demonstrated in quality products made available through local skills.
Abaribe, who described this year’s fair, billed to end this weekend, as a consolidation of last year’s, also called for a radical transformation of Nigeria’s industrial base by providing adequate facilities to support the efforts of indigenous producers to boost economic growth.
While urging relevant agencies of government to create adequate awareness on the need for introduction of policies that would enable local initiatives to thrive, Abaribe, who is also the facilitator of the fair, said it was his constituency project and was aimed at giving opportunity to Aba producers to showcase their products to the world.
“This fair is to encourage Made-in-Nigeria products, but specifically Made-in-Aba goods. We need to be able to create wealth and employment by patronising local producers to reduce crime in the society. If we neglect our domestic goods and continue to patronise foreign ones, there is no way that foreigners will see us as talented,” he said.
Abaribe also argued that reliance on imported goods at the expense of quality goods that were locally produced would not allow the nation’s economy to develop. According to him, if given adequate patronage, indigenous producers would help to create employment for the youth and wealth for the country.
He said the only way the local industries could thrive was if they were patronised by the government and the Nigerian public.
“We’ve been telling policy makers to stop the importation of finished leather and allied products into Nigeria so that we can produce for Nigeria. We want to make sure that those who are involved in the procurement process of government can come here and see that some of the things they want to go and buy outside are actually produced here. What we have here are quality products that can match the best standards anywhere in the world,” he said, while disclosing that the leather industry in the country was already choking under stiff competition from cheap foreign made goods, especially from China, which were not by any means superior.
Abaribe observed that there was not only a remarkable improvement on the quality of products being exhibited this year, but also a remarkable improvement in terms of ingenuous designs.
He further added that the maiden edition of the fair, held in Abuja last year, not only x-rayed the ingenuity of the people, but also attested to the fact that Aba is a veritable platform to pilot Nigeria’s industrial revolution.
Source: Leadership Newspaper
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