President Muhammadu Buhari has
promised that his
administration will implement essential reforms to protect Nigerian
manufacturers from unfair competition from abroad.
He gave the promise during a meeting with the Permanent
Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Abdulkadir Musa, and senior officials of
relevant agencies at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The president said he will no longer allow Nigerian markets to be flooded with things the country can produce itself.
Buhari, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity,
Femi Adesina, said with his focus on job creation, the government was
ready to do whatever it considers necessary to boost
domestic manufacturing and
industrialisation.
He said his
administration will fully support the effective implementation of the
plan evolved
by the Ministry to boost local manufacturing through legal, regulatory
and structural reforms, lower interest rates, special intervention
funds, protection of local manufacturers and significant improvements in
national infrastructure.
He said: “With high interest rates and entrepreneurs needing
trillions of Naira to buy machinery, we are virtually back at Ground
Zero as far as industrial development is concerned.
“So, we will shun all anti-development policies, and make the climate
more suitable for entrepreneurs. We will create the environment for
them to thrive. Generating employment was one of our key campaign
promises and we will keep that promise.
“We will no longer allow our markets to be flooded with things we can
produce ourselves. We must believe in our system. Whenever you need my
intervention at anytime, please come to me, “ he added.
The Permanent Secretary and his team told the President that the objective of the Ministry’s
Industrialisation Plan was to create more
jobs, diversify
exports and broaden the country’s tax base.
They said that the plan’s
critical success
factors included dialogue and consultation with industry stakeholders,
essential reforms and greater collaboration among relevant agencies.
