Lagos State Government and Commodities and Export Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment have organised a sensitisation campaign on the patronage of Made in Nigeria products and Services.
Speaking at the event held at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa – Ikeja on Thursday, with the theme: “Buy Made-In-Nigeria Products and Services for Industrialisation and Job Creation”, the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs.) Lola Akande stated that the Ministry has already adopted the practice of using locally produced goods at its events and packaging the same as gifts for distribution during the yuletide and other seasons.
Her words: “The Administration of Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu remains committed to the implementation of policies, programmes and projects as they impact the business prosperity of the State. The administration continues to provide a conducive environment for the Organised Private Sector and other stakeholders, by ensuring continuous public enlightenment for the patronage of goods and services produced by indigenous MSMEs”.
Represented by the Deputy Directors, Commerce, Mr. Dayo Shobayo and Omolabake Bashirudeen in the Ministry, Akande asserted that the current economic environment requires stronger collaboration between the Federal, State and Local Governments to deliberately carry out continuous sensitisation activities to encourage Nigerians to patronise and utilise goods and services produced by MSME operators in the country.
Her words, “This will serve as a trigger for industrial capacity utilisation towards increased industrial productivity, increased non-oil export and reduced importation of consumer goods with AfCFTA benefits in view. The recent inauguration of the Lagos State Technical Working Group on AfCFTA will help to harness some of the benefits of the Agreements”.
“This includes re-energising the State’s aspiration for industrialisation, positioning the State as an investment hub and market destination for goods and services of the highest quality standard for 1.2 billion consumers that AfCFTA has the potential to bring to our doorsteps; and enhancing the competitiveness of the State’s MSMEs at the industry and enterprise levels by exploiting opportunities for the scale of production, job creation and better re-allocation of resources”, she said.
Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abiola Olusanya, represented by General Manager, Lagos State Coconut Development Authority, Mr. John Olakulehin, remarked that most of the goods made locally are from agricultural products and close to 60 per cent of our income are spent on food.
She stressed that local production should be improved while targeting consumer satisfaction and generating employment opportunities for the citizens.
The representative of the Commodities and Export Department of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Kafiyat Rimamchika charged citizens to produce what they need and consume what they produce, adding that a lot needs to be done through sensitisation of citizens and projecting the love for the country in order to make patronage of locally made products a priority.
“Every citizen should be involved in the national campaign to discourage high importation of foreign-made goods and encourage the patronage of locally made ones. What we refer to as foreign goods here are seen as local goods in their country of origin. Every citizen should be an ambassador of the country by promoting and patronising our own products”, he said.
The Deputy Director/Head, Lagos Zonal Office, Corporate Affairs Commission, Mr. Godwin Ononokpono mentioned that entrepreneurs should ensure they do the needful concerning the registration of their businesses so in order to have proper documentation for their products.
The National Vice President of the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Mr. Kuti George commended Lagos State Government for supporting entrepreneurs through sensitisation programmes that are held from time to time and implored the Federal Government to follow suit by organising the same more often.
