Mar 29, 2016 In a bid to salvage the free fall of the Naira against the US dollars, Nigerians are gradually embracing a new mantra that says “Buy Naija and grow the Naira”
The initiative, which encourages Nigerians to buy made-in-Nigeria products, is aimed at reducing and discouraging rampant importation of good which are also produced locally.
The Nigerian senate recently adopted a motion seeking the amendment of the Procurement Act, which Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe said will greatly support local enterprises.
“The procurement act, which was passed by the National Assembly… there is a provision in section 34, 1, 2 and 3. There is provision for purchasing made in Nigeria goods. That one is there, but in that provision it says that the people doing the procurement may first look at made in Nigeria before looking elsewhere, and since the operating word there is ‘may’, what it means is that it now depends on the individual whether he would like to do it or not. So what we are going to do, and what we have proposed to do and we have sent to the National Assembly is to change that word from ‘may’ to ‘shall.’ In other words, the first option policy of buying a made in Nigeria good is mandatory, once it becomes the word shall. So its a very small amendment but the impact and repercussions are very very large.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier promised to strengthen the agricultural sector to reduce the country’s reliance on imported food.
Elsewhere, Bolaji Okusaga, an economic analyst pointed out that the dividends of the initiate will definitely materialize, however not in the short term.
“I think government needs to be smarter about its options. The journey is not going to be… the fact that you are starting the journey now does not mean that you are going to see the destination immediately but at least let’s have some kind of consistency in policies and actions that shows that we are truly walking the talk, you know in terms of helping to galvanize local energy towards… you know a local production and helping to raise local demands and creation of jobs,”
