Buy Made In Nigeria – Who’s Fooling Who?

• Kay Soyemi (Esq.)
• October 15, 2009
• More from this author

My attention was drawn to a rather innocuous news item that announced that the government of President Umar Yar’Adua has banned the serving of foreign beverages at official functions and offices during the official launch of the Made-In-Nigeria products campaign in Abuja!

Good news, I would say under normal circumstances, as the ban went further to cover items such as tea, coffee, biscuits, fruit juices, water and soft drinks.

VP Goodluck, on behalf of President UMYA, also announced that,

“Henceforth, all government contractors must give priority to the use of Nigerian products whose quality is certified by relevant regulatory agencies of government like Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC.

“All uniforms and boots of the armed forces; Army, Navy, Air Force, Police as well as para-military, Customs, Immigration, Prisons and Civil Defence Corps, Road Safety, etc, must be sourced from Nigerian manufacturers certified by SON”

Sterling words and vision you might say. He then went on to conclude,

“With a population of over 140 million people, Nigeria’s market is big enough to sustain a bubbling domestic industrial sector if only Nigerians look inwards at their local products.

“Unfortunately, many industries had to close shop due to lack of patronage of their products by Nigerians…We must, therefore, re-orientate ourselves to value what we produce in order to develop a strong and virile industrial base…, appealed to the organised private sector to demonstrate a high sense of consumer patriotism by following the footsteps of the government in their procurement programmes.”

But a proper look at the utterances and the directive by fiat reveals a lot of insincerity and a total lack of focus on the part of the government. True, I was not at the event as I was neither invited nor made aware of the occasion through any sustained campaign of enlightenment through public media such as the radio so I cannot confirm if the refreshments at the venue included refreshments such as fóóra, burukutu, palm wine, kola nuts, akára, dódó ikiré, bóóli, épa and gúgurú among others. Indeed, I cannot verify that ‘pió’ water in sachets were readily available at this launching, but who wants to bet against the odds?

So, where do we start, when our leaders say “all government contractors” and not they and all government agencies and parastatals must give priority to the use of Nigerian products?

Why do we draw lines with “all uniforms and boots of the armed forces; Army, Navy, Air Force, Police as well as para-military, Customs, Immigration, Prisons and Civil Defence Corps, Road Safety, etc, must be sourced from Nigerian manufacturers certified by SON” and skilfully exclude those who should lead by examples such as the legislative houses and other political institutions?

And, oh by the way, why do we not have government official cars on the list of made in Nigeria goods to be sourced henceforth? Is it because Mercs, BMWs, Jaguar, Lexus, Range Rovers are better than …., ahem, a non-existent Nigerian brand of car?

I was actually stupefied to hear that the government recognises that, “With a population of over 140 million people, Nigeria’s market is big enough to sustain a bubbling domestic industrial sector if only Nigerians look inwards at their local products” yet the government has not deemed it fit to understand the demographics of the same population base with a view towards providing it with the required infrastructure that would release the creativity of this vast market.

Indeed, such callowness was exacerbated by the declaration that, “Unfortunately, many industries had to close shop due to lack of patronage of their products by Nigerians” wherein it is a common fact that the per capita earnings of the average Nigerian is one of the lowest in the world and in direct contrast to the flamboyant and ebullient lifestyles of (s)elected politicians and government officials. So, who is more guilty of dereliction in this instance?

So, who do we need to point fingers at when we say, “We must, therefore, re-orientate ourselves to value what we produce in order to develop a strong and virile industrial base.” Is it the emasculated and long suffering Nigerians who are held in servitude and bondage by their thieving ‘servant leaders’ or those that makes it impossible for the average Nigerian to rise up to his/her true potential without feeling the need to steal or be involved in acts of perfidy or corruption?

As much as I proudly proclaim my fondness of adiré, aso oké, Ankara; my unflinching fondness of palmy, fóóra da nunu, akara and ipekeré; my undying desire for nkwóóbi, isiéwu and asuún; and my eternal gratefulness for the inventors of pounded yam and vegetable stew, amálá and ewédu or tuwo shinkafa, I cannot stomach ‘pió’ water!

So, I ask with all seriousness, does the federal government comprising of the executive and legislative houses understand what their businesses should be? It is not enough to make lofty pronouncements and hope these translates into realities. It is government business to provide the means that would empower the populace to achieve things. If the government were alive to its responsibilities, it would provide constant electricity, good transport network, sound education and health to its citizens; it would guarantee the security of lives and limbs in order to provide the atmosphere where buying Made-in Nigeria would not become part of an insincere, sceptical sloganeering campaign.

Please crank up your medulla oblongata and get the country moving in the right directions. Nigerians are no fools who need to be told what to buy. If you like, keep gorging on your chips and sh*t, I will stick to my kúlinkúli and gárri, if you like stick your face in a bowl custard; I still prefer akamú but don’t tell me not to buy what I cannot afford in the first instance.

BTW, who are the Nigerians that UMYA and Goodluck were talking to?

God bless the real Nigerians!