The best way to achieve the implementation of this policy as Nigerians await the drafting of this policy into an executive order signed by the President is by killing government addiction to foreign luxuries, beginning with the presidency. Nigerians expect to see among other things, the abolition of medical tourism abroad among our public officials so as to enable the replication the state of the art health centres they receive abroad across the nation for their VIP treatment.
The creation of Animalism after the expulsion of Mr. Jones in George Orwell’s Animal Farm was a kind of social concept expected to bring equality among animals. And, with the formation of the seven commandments which further upholds the concept of equality among the animals, everything goes on smoothly because the animals are equal and work in harmony. However, trouble started when the 7th commandment which says, “All animals are equal” was replaced with “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than the others,” and a idea which totally opposes the principle of animal revolution and the ideal society of Animalism. Since some animals are now more equal than the others, laws are broken with impunity as the leadership of Animal Farm, led by Napoleon now violates the seven commandments and wears human clothes, sleeps in human bed, drinks alcohol and begins to kill one another because they are now more equal than the other.
About a week ago, the Federal Executive Council, FEC, approved a ‘Nigeria First’ policy with the aim of prioritizing locally made goods and services in all government procurement over foreign products. This means that anything produced in Nigeria comes first during procurement and that no foreign goods or services that are already being manufactured locally will be procured without justifiable reasons.
Laudable as this policy appears especially, with its ability to boost the country’s economy and promote local products consumption, many Nigerians believe it will be hampered by leadership penchant for foreign goods. So, like in the Animal Farm, Nigerians believe the policy will be trampled upon by our leaders who usually have their ways with disobeying laws, particularly whenever such laws affect their Eurocentric imitation.
Recently, some of the manifestations of the Eurocentric imitation of our leaders, including the mass importation of Special Utility Vehicles for our lawmakers, the Cadillac Escalade for President Tinubu at the expense of indigenous car manufacturing companies such as Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd and Nord Automobile Limited, the unsolicited use of tax payer’s money for foreign tourism at the expense of the numerous tourist centres in the country, craze for foreign products and other insatiable appetite for foreign made products among leadership due to their unlimited access to our commonwealth, which they squander at will are the reasons many Nigerians are skeptical about the workability of this policy.
Therefore, having received so much approval from the public, the fear notwithstanding, many Nigerians believe that in order for this policy to truly achieve its purpose, government should be courageous enough to genuinely implement it while they lead from the front like the mother chicken that always goes ahead in search of food for its chicks and tastes first before passing it over.
Among the Nigerians who believe our leaders should emulate the mother chicken is the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Billy Gillis-Harry who sees the policy as potentially transformative for Nigeria’s economy if fully implemented and admonished thus: “let’s have the courage to make sure that this is obeyed from top to bottom, from the presidency to the least Nigerian.”
The whole problem that needs to be addressed so that this policy can work has been captured here because everything begins and ends with leadership. Otherwise like in the analogy of the Animal Farm captured above, the policy would be dead on arrival if the top to bottom approach of Gillis-Harry is not followed.
But how can this be achieved?
The best way to achieve the implementation of this policy as Nigerians await the drafting of this policy into an executive order signed by the President is by killing government addiction to foreign luxuries, beginning with the presidency. Nigerians expect to see among other things, the abolition of medical tourism abroad among our public officials so as to enable the replication the state of the art health centres they receive abroad across the nation for their VIP treatment. Nigerians also expect to see in the policy document, a complete ban on importation of official cars for government officials which will give room for the likes of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Co. Ltd, Nord Automobile Limited and other car manufacturing companies to thrive.
The attitude of junketing the world to enjoy vacation should also stop forthwith. Nigeria has more than enough tourist centres such as Kuramo Beach, Erin Ijesha Waterfalls, Yankari Game Reserve, Obudu Cattle Ranch, Nike Art Gallery and many others with serene environment where vacation can best be enjoyed thereby inviting foreign investors that will boost our tourist sites.
In all, Nigerians expect government to lead by example using Nigerian made goods including their fabrics, furniture, electronics among others.
To achieve national self reliance as this policy proposes, Nigerians expect increased investment in local industries, in businesses and infrastructure development. In fact, Nigerians are looking for investment in infrastructure in transportation industry, telecommunication, energy, tourism, entertainment and others that can facilitate trade and business growth. Nigerians also expect that this policy will lead to improvement in the quality of local products and services and making sure that our product are both locally and internationally competitive.
In the policy document, Nigerians anticipate standing laws that will prohibit government officials from importing foreign goods into the country so that the masses can emulate them because the citizens really would like to patronize made in Nigeria goods. If this is not done, the policy will not be effective.
As the government pushes forward with the industrialization policy and import substitution goals to become the cornerstone of the Tinubu-led administration’s economic strategy, the Bureau of Public Procurement, having been saddled with the responsibility of creating a comprehensive compliance mechanism that will ensure that all government procurements adhere to local content requirements. Nigerians expect that this will be done without prejudice and with no Nigerian more equal than the other. Undue preference should not be given to any agency of government than the other.
In this regard as well, government should give the BPP free hand to operate without interference. Effective and unbiased laws that will ensure compliance to enforce procurement rules are also expected by Nigerians. It is cheery to hear the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed say that “contractors will no longer be mere intermediaries sourcing foreign goods while Nigerian factories lie idle.” But in order to actualize this, BPP should ensure holistic preparation of the database of high-quality suppliers in Nigeria without sentiment because ministers and other top government officials have their ways of taking indigenous contractors for granted. Government should also help cottage industries financially so they can boost their production and ensure sufficiency of locally made products.
Ultimately, Nigerians expect a right political will for the successful implementation of this policy. Should BPP fail to create the expected compliance mechanism and act government script, Nigerians should be ready to protect this policy by constantly calling agencies of government that fail to do the needful to order and their political leaders at both national and state levels. There must be a general change of orientation among stakeholders both in the public and private sectors towards locally made goods. If a change of orientation can be successfully achieved at this level, it will automatically trickle down to the masses just like the movement of water from the head to every part of the body. As the poor quality of locally made goods is another discontentment against Nigerian made goods, Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) should be alive to its responsibility of regulating the quality of our products to ensure compliance with international standards.
Nigeria will rise again.
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