The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has called on state governments to set aside about 35 per cent of its threshold for the purchase of made-in-Nigeria products. Frank Udemba, President of the association, made the call at the 31st Annual General Meeting of the Edo/Delta states chapter in Benin-City with the theme, “Manufacturing without Iron and Steel complex: The Imperatives of Iron and Steel Industry in Nigeria’s Development”.
Udemba, who said the Federal Government has set 40 per cent minimum threshold of purchases for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the executive order, also urged state governments to give an acceptable margin of preference of 35 per cent of price consideration for locally produced products as against foreign ones. He explained that to review the current public act at the federal level, the Federal Government introduced the executive order on improved government patronage of made-in-Nigeria products and the current build-up against smuggling and counterfeiting activities in the country.
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He said that the development would keep local manufacturing companies in production for employment retention and creation of new ones in the midst of high cost of operating in the country.
According to him, it is a fact that when we buy foreign goods, we pay the returns to factors used in producing them in the originating countries, that is to say we pay wages, rent, interest and profit to foreign countries with our local resources.
While also appealing to governor of the two states to patronage made-in-Nigeria, he noted that government remains the largest single spender in the economy and could drive industrial development and economic growth by increasing its patronage of locally made products.
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Udemba listed other benefits of patronage of made-in-Nigeria products to include enhancement of the manufacturing sector, employment creation, reduction in anti-social vices, as well as peace for the populace of the state.
The MAN president also appealed to the two-state governors to put policies in place that would ensure the development and sustenance of the manufacturing sector, as it provides one of the most viable and reliable routes that government can employ in creating wealth, generating employment and engendering skill acquisition.
Earlier, the Edo/Delta branch chairman of the association, Alofoje Unuigboje, had decried the crippling double-digit interest rate regime under which industries operate. Unuigboje noted that there is no other nation in the world that aspires to industrialise, where the interest rate is equivalent to Nigeria’s.
