Precious Ugwuzor
The federal government has been advised to encourage and give more support to micro, small and medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) by providing enabling infrastructure like roads and electricity in other to diversify and improve on sources of revenue for the country.
The charge was given recently by Mr. Chinedu Amadi, the president of Organisation of Youths of International Trade and Commerce during a workshop held at the Technology Incubation Center in Agege.
The event was organised to educate entrepreneurs on better ways that will ensure that their products are well packaged and designed to meet international standards, as well as compete in the world market, which would in turn attract foreign exchange to the producer and improve on the economy of the country.
Amadi noted that there is need for the government to collaborate with local producers to diversify the economy from the long dependency on crude oil which in no much time may vanish from the global world.
He used the COVID-19 era to give an example where everybody was under the lockdown while farmers who entered into production were smiling home with cash while oil production went down, cutting off all the revenue which the government depended on.
” We are talking on how to change our non-oil export to attract foreign earning to Nigeria and better our lives,”he said.
He explained that a time will come when Nigerians will no longer depend on foreign foods like noodles to feed on, adding that “we need to look inward and improve on our local foods”.
He further explained that presently, Nigerian food is being appreciated abroad “but all what our local producers need is on how to package them for more attraction”.
The organiser of the workshop, Mr, Michael Ukeje, in an interview with journalists afterwards said the purpose was to encourage driven export market by ” teaching our producers how to package their product to enable them sell in the international market and make hard currencies”.
According to him, at the end of the workshop, some products that meet the standard will be chosen and the producers will be given money as a form of empowerment to enable them produce in large quantities and then take them to international market.
“This will encourage and sustain the producer the stress. When you have market driving your production, you are good to go”.
Earlier in his keynote address, Dr Olusola Omowumi, an industrial and project consultant and Director Federal Institute For Research Organisation (FIRO), Oshodi, said despite the fact that oil has contributed to boost the revenue of Nigeria, the effects have not assisted to alleviate poverty and unemployment currently plaguing the nation.
This, he explained, remains a very strong reason to diversify and look beyond oil for the future well being of the country.
According to him “If Nigeria aims to be real “giant of Africa” as claimed, efforts must be made by the government to diversify non oil sector, otherwise, it is yet to come.”
He further noted that the non oil sector has the capacity to provide food for human population, and act as source of raw materials for industries and thus promote economic growth and poverty reduction.
“In the year between 2008 and 2014 non- oil revenue marginally increased from 45.09 per cent to 48.02 per cent based on (National Bureau of Statistics 2014).”
This he claimed means that it was the period government devoted much effort to revenue generation from non oil sector.
In his conclusion, he noted that there is a lot of revenue to be generated in Nigeria if government will focus on non-oil products to shove up non-oil export.
“We must shift from the exportation of raw material to semi finished goods with higher value, create good bilateral relationships that encourage trade, not just import as enabling environment for business growth and institute policy that favour growth in critical sector,” he added.
Dr. Julie Momah, the Zonal Director, Technology Incubation Center Lagos, said the purpose of the programme is as an off taker platform where the products made in Nigeria can be exported.
According to her, “most of our products are awaiting to go to export market for the best standard because they have been certified by NAFDAC and they are ready to be imported to markets outside the country.
” Our national board for technology exhibition is agent of Federal Science of Technology. The purpose of the organisation is to nurture small and medium entrepreneurs in area of value addition, in area of business and development level of commercialising them to the market.”
