By OLADELE OLADIPUPO

THIS is a one million Naira question. Recall that in February 2024, President Bola Tinubu directed a mandatory recitation of the pledge immediately after the national anthem at every official and public engagement. According to Mr. President, the directive is aimed at ensuring absolute respect for the national symbols, strengthen allegiance and fidelity to the country and preserve Nigeria’s ethos and defining character.

On March 22,2024 at a gathering in Abuja, Mr. President urged Nigerians to patronise home made goods in order to strengthen the value of our local currency. Mr. President also intimated the nation that the Federal Government was making frantic efforts to ensure that our Naira becomes stronger against foreign currencies. It has been observed that most Nigerians prefer to patronise foreign goods instead of locally made goods.

The reason is quite obvious. Most Nigerians believe that foreign goods are much better than locally made ones. This shows that we lack patriotism. I would like to back up this statement with three examples. The first example is our textile industries that have become moribund. It will be recalled that between early 1970s and the late 1990s, the country had the best textile industries in the whole of Africa. There were textile industries in Lagos, Kaduna and Kano. Moreover, the country had ginneries in Zaria, Kaduna State.

These textile industries employed thousands of workers but suddenly in the late 1990s, they all became moribund. The question is: What happened to these industries? Your guess is as good as mine! What happened was that there was an obnoxious policy that allowed the importation of used clothes popularly known as Okrika. Nigerian markets were flooded with imported clothes and our people started patronising and purchasing them; eventually this was how our textile industries were forced out of business.

Thousands of workers lost their jobs and they were thrown into the labor market. Efforts were made by successive administrations to revamp the ailing industries but to no avail. Part of the lessons that we have learnt from this episode is that it is always good to patronise home made goods. Furthermore, we should realise that anytime we purchase foreign goods, obviously we are creating more jobs outside the country to the detriment of our local market and this will put a lot of pressure on the naira.

Again we should always make sure that our locally made goods meet international standards so that they can be easily exported and by so doing we will be earning a lot of foreign exchange. The second example has to do with the production of the NEEDS document. Recall that during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, a vital policy document titled: National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, NEEDS, was prepared. The public officials that were saddled with the responsibility of preparing this document travelled outside the shores of Nigeria to get the document prepared.

First and foremost, this document could have been prepared here in Nigeria considering the fact that we have experts that are capable of handling the work. Secondly, the so-called foreign experts were oblivious of our economy, culture and tradition. Therefore, they couldn’t do a thorough job and the policy document is now lying on shelves gathering dust. The third example is about one of the newly created ministries that has requested a foreign expert to assist in developing viable policies for its smooth take-off.

This action to me is unpatriotic because we do have many learned Professors here in Nigeria who could do a better job; not only that, but the foreign Professor will be paid in hard currency and this will definitely deplete our foreign reserves. I have repeatedly emphasized that when the government is formulating policies, be it social, economic or foreign, let it be home grown. A couple of years ago the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, removed about 43 items from the list of items that were supposed to be imported into the country and the reason its officials gave was that those items could be produced locally.

This was a right step in the right direction. The secret behind the success of most developed countries is that their citizens always patronise and purchase home-made goods. A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of travelling to India on a World Bank Training Programme when I was in the service. We visited some notable companies as part of our itinerary and TATA was one of them. This is where they manufacture their vehicles.

About 90 per cent of all their vehicles are produced locally and this has contributed immensely to their economic prosperity. We need to imbibe the spirit of patriotism in this country if we really want our economy to grow. It has been in the news lately that our so-called public officials whose policies and actions ought to be patriotic and on the side of the economy and the people have decided to do otherwise.

In addition, they have also been alleged to have unrestrained taste for products that are manufactured outside the shores of Nigeria. This is unpatriotic. Let us make use of what we have to produce what we need. We should be able to promote made in Nigeria goods no matter what! Our public officials are supposed to lay good examples so that the rest of us can follow suit. The question is: How can we achieve economic prosperity? Here are my suggestions:

*The Federal Government should enact a law making it mandatory for all Nigerians irrespective of social status to patronize and purchase made in Nigeria goods;

*The Federal Government should develop and implement policies that will promote Nigeria’s non-oil exports;

*The Federal Government should create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive;

*One of the major challenges we face in this country is erratic power supply. Energy is very critical for any business to thrive. In view of the above the Federal Government should ensure adequate power supply;

*Awareness and sensitisation are very important if we really want people to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods. So, the National Orientation Agency should try to sensitise Nigerians in this regard;

*Finally, all hands must be on deck to revive our ailing economy.

•Oladipupo, a public affairs commentator, wrote via: [email protected]