By Dickson Omobola

LAGOS — THE Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, yesterday, lamented that the conditions for the effective implementation of the Nigeria First policy are currently lacking.

NECA’s Director-General, Mr Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, who addressed newsmen ahead of the 4th Nigeria Employers’ Summit, noted that the policy was a direct violation of the protocols of the African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA.

He also warned that the policy was unworkable because it would jeopardise the consumer, whose purchasing power has dropped.

He, however, said the forthcoming Nigeria Employers’ Summit would provide recommendations to guide the government in shaping this policy and many others for the country’s benefit.

He said: “A few weeks ago, the president came up with the Nigeria First initiative, which is another reform still going on. The Federal Government cannot decree Nigeria First because if you decree that they buy Nigeria, then you are doing two things: directly violating the protocols of the AfCFTA and jeopardising the consumer whose purchasing power has also been affected directly.

“For instance, if a box of chocolate made by Cadbury costs N5 in Nigeria and a chocolate made in Switzerland costs N3, which one do you think consumers will buy? Consumers will most likely buy the one from Switzerland. While we promote buying Nigeria, we must also provide factors that would make buying Nigeria easy, or that would make the manufacturer in Nigeria competitive to be able to produce and sell at a lesser price.

“Those factors include infrastructure such as power, dealing with regulatory challenges. If these things are not dealt with, the cost of production in Nigeria will still be high and the cost of importation will still be less. So, you leave the consumer with no option but to buy the imported goods. Those things must align, and part of the objectives of the summit is to come up with policy recommendations to guide the government in shaping its policies and shaping the direction of the economy.”

On the forthcoming summit, he said: “It will address all issues not only at the macro level but also make attempts to create conversation at the micro-level. For us, this is the biggest employer advocacy platform not only in Nigeria, but in Africa.”