Bisola David
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has said that Nigerian consumers should adopt a different mentality and support locally made items, particularly in the agricultural sector, to increase revenue and jobs.
The Punch reported that he said this while speaking at a one-day seminar and exhibition with the theme “Re-orientation towards ensuring preference and consumption of domestic agro-allied products,” organized by Zakclair Investment Limited. Adesina, who was represented by the Special Assistant to the President on New Media, Tolu Ogunlesi, claimed that purchasing locally produced goods would enable more Nigerians to become financially independent.
He clarified that when a country’s economy is built mostly on imported goods, that country will never be able to increase its production potential.
The presidential spokesperson said that the majority of the world’s industrialized nations had economies that relied heavily on domestic manufacture of commodities.
He claimed that the nation’s foreign exchange reserve was being severely hampered by the unrestrained importation of goods.
We must also be willing to experiment with our local products in ways that can help us reach a larger audience, according to Adesina. We can use limited resources to create jobs for people rather than wasting them on importing goods and services. We must have a stronger sense of the worth of our cultural heritage.
“Our reliance on foreign exchange will be lessened if we purchase goods created locally. Jobs are also created locally as a result of value addition. The value of buying locally produced goods comes from the jobs that will be generated.
“I believe that there is a lot we can accomplish with indigenous products given the kind of market that we have in Nigeria, which has 200 million people,” she said.
In his keynote speech, Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Prof. Garba Sharabutu, urged attendees to stop just talking about the efforts to increase the consumption of made-in-Nigeria goods, stating that “we need to take it from words to action.”
CEO of Zakclair Investment Ltd.,Adelabu Abdulrazak, has earlier outlined the need to focus on promoting preference for and consumption of locally produced goods in light of the struggling national economy.
In order to instill patriotism, support policies that address this lifestyle, refocus our folks, and significantly accelerate the growth of our economy, he continued, “we believe there is a need for a dialogue in this part of our national life.”
