FG To Tackle Issues Bothering On Local Manufacturers
Senator John Owan Enoh
FG To Tackle Issues Bothering On Local Manufacturers.
The federal government has assured Nigerian industrialists that it would address the numerous challenges facing the industrial sector of the Nigerian economy in order to unleash the industrial revolution drive of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.
This assurance was delivered by the Minister of State for Industry, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Senator John Owan Enoh, during his tour of strategic industrial locations in the South-west.
Some of the industries Enoh visited in Lagos State during the tour were the Sunflag Nigeria Limited, the GB Foods Nigeria, Berger Paints Plc, Friesland Campina WAMCO Plc and Mojec Group while those he visited in Ogun State included the TGI, Veenocks Nigeria Limited, Coleman Cables and Wires Limited, Equipment and Protective Applications International Limited (EPAIL) and Mikano Industries.
Speaking to the media during the tour of Sunflag Nigeria Limited in Lagos, the minister acknowledged that the decline in the textile industry has negatively impacted productivity and job creation in this critical sector of the economy.
He assured the company that under his leadership, the ministry is determined to provide the support needed for local manufacturers to thrive again.
He announced that the ministry would be convening a session for Cotton Textile Garments (CTG) stakeholders, which would address the challenges hindering their growth and also establish the Industrial Revolution Work Group (IRWG) that would be comprised of representatives of different sectors, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).
He said: “I have the immediate mandate to promote Made-in-Nigeria goods and services. My visit here is to assure you that if there is a government that is committed to doing that, it is the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. You can see that this government has continued to show a lot of courage and energy. And that is what this country requires now.”
He revealed that the government has put in place various incentives to lessen the challenges affecting the ease of doing business in Nigeria and would continue to encourage those still in operation to drive their growth and expansion.
Enoh praised the companies he visited for the resilience in the face of daunting economic challenges.
He said: “We commend the resilience of these companies for believing in the country despite the challenges; we want to assure them that the goal of the government is to lessen challenges that continue to impact the ease of doing business in Nigeria.”
According to him, the IRWG group would serve as a think tank and a bridge between the industries and the government to understand key issues hindering industrial activities in the country and collaboratively propose and implement solutions.
He stated that the IRWG is part of his six key priorities, which also include the Nigeria Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP), Special Agro-Processing Zones (SAPZ), Cotton, Textiles and Garments (CTG) Industry, Petrochemical, Chemical & Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and MSME Census.
Senator Enoh also meet with the Governor of Ogun State, Mr. Dapo Abiodun, who briefed him on the state’s proposed cotton and apparel industry that is billed to the biggest in West Africa, with a capacity to employ up to 40,000 people.
Governor Abiodun said: “We are planning to house the biggest cotton and apparel industry, perhaps in West Africa, and the groundbreaking is scheduled to take place soon. That industry promises to employ about 40,000 people when it starts, and they are all in our Special Processing Zone.”
While briefing the minister on his experience during his recent visit to Morocco, Abiodun explained that Morocco encouraged investors with various incentives and is currently producing aircraft parts for aircraft manufacturing companies, a development which he said Nigeria could benefit from through collaboration.
In his response to the governor’s remarks, Enoh said that Ogun State is Nigeria’s main industrial base.
“I thank Ogun State for being such a good host to industries. I thank you for encouraging the growth of industry. I think that we, as a people and a country, believe this visit brings back to life and helps our industries understand the role they play. We appreciate the constraints our industries are facing as part of the general constraints in our country, but the advantages that lie in this country are enormous as well.
“So while the constraints are being grappled with, the good thing is that there are potentials that continue to exist, and I think that by working with industries and the private sector, we will be able to achieve the goals of this administration,” he noted.
