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Repositioning Nigeria economically and industrially (I)
Joseph Omowa

There is no doubt that the sad economic experiences of the past four years have made President Obasanjo to decide to reel out some innovatory economic programmes to turn the economy round.

The efforts to lift the economy from the abyss has compelled Nigeria to threat the path of import prohibition which involves the banning of numerous items by the government. While it makes good economic sense for Nigeria to compete with other nations in the production and marketing of industrial goods that are greatly in demand, not only by its teeming population but for export to other nations of the world particularly its neighbouring African countries, but rather than attain this position, it is unfortunate that Nigeria, for decades, has become the dumping ground for all manners of goods from less-endowed countries made up of substandard, cheap and low quality hazardous products.

To appreciate the level of involvement and commitment of Nigerians in the economic upliftment of other countries, one only needs to go into any corner shop or supermarket, to one�s chagrin, one would discover that about 90 per cent of all items are manufactured outside Nigeria including toothpick, toothbrush and pastes, sugar, rice, palm oil and all kinds of fruit juices among other items.

This total dependence of trading in all manners of imported items has dealt devastating blow to our local industries a majority of which have either closed shop or made to produce at minimal capacity installation since they cannot withstand the competition from foreign goods. In fact, Nigeria has gradually become a nation of shop keepers, because the proliferation of shops spreads across the nation in almost every residential apartment, at every corner, along the roadsides and the peripatetic traders on the traffic, the similarity among them is that the majority of these goods are all imported.

It is apt to stress that in international politics and also in economic and social matters, the interests of every nation or state takes precedence over that of any other one, but unfortunately for Nigeria, in subscribing totally to the dictates of the politics of globalisation it has unfortunately failed to task for trade concessions which would have enabled it, under the World Trade Organisations Agreement, to protect its national economic interests and integrity. In the same vein, ECOWAS Treaty and the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), notwithstanding, Nigeria should ask for some holidays or concessions to revamp its economy so as to be able not only to rub shoulders with other nations, but also reach a level playing ground on which it can compete with them. It is therefore not surprising that there is a continuous flow of goods of various descriptions a majority of which are of poor quality through the numerous porous borders.

Most of the importers or traders who are smugglers have found these routes and porous borders attractive particularly so as most African countries sharing the borders with Nigeria derive a preponderant part of their revenues from duties they collect from illegal goods transiting to Nigeria. It poses a lot of difficulty for the Nigerian Customs Services and other Immigration officials to man the hundreds of thousands kilometres border with countries such as Cameroun, Chad, the Republic of Niger and Benin Republic, hence for all measures to prevent smuggling to be effective, and for the trade malpractices committee to suceed, the Federal Government must enter into bilateral agreements with all its neighbouring states on the propriety of disallowing then to be used as a haven and transit routes for smugglers

. If this is not done, from the experiences of the past, there is no way the Customs and Immigration agents can withstand the deluge of smuggling which the ban would have set loose.

Furthermore, when the amount of scarce foreign exchange consumed by importation of manufactured goods is carefully analysed, it is realised that a staggering $12 billion (N1.397 trillion), an equivalent of our total annual income is lost to foreign trade. There is a serious depletion of our foreign reserves too. It is therefore not surprising that the Nigerian economy has refused to respond to all the economic prodding embarked upon by the present and previous administrations.

Moreover, the funds that would have been invested in social and infrastructural developments have been lost to the importation of foreign goods, hence the widespread poverty, hunger and unemployment ravaging the land. This scenario vividly gives the background for the recent ban of 40 foreign goods, which when added to others covered by previous ban, gives a total of about 111 items.

As much as many Nigerians and stakeholders, particularly the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria would applaud, care must be taken to ensure that the ban does not create a vacuum. The goods placed under ban are of daily necessities to Nigerians. Therefore, the government must strive to ensure that Nigerians are not made to suffer shortages in their daily demands of such banned goods, therefore alternative local sources should be assured.

To be continued.

�Omowa lives in Lagos.


REPOSITIONING NIGERIA ECONOMICALLY AND INDUSTRIALLY (II)

Since the federal government has allowed a 90-day period of grace for all importers of these items to fulfill all existing obligations, the pertinent question is; are there adequate alternatives on the ground to meet up the demands of the populace and the shortage necessitated by the ban? With or without the ban, it is the duty of government to restore normalcy to the economic life of the nation.

The latest ban therefore should be utilized to restore life to the sectors producing raw materials and manufacturing the goods. Moreover, the new policy should be critically appraised and implemented so that it can lead to the re-awakening of local industries in their thousands, it would also check dumping, smuggling and faking.

The import prohibition measure would not only protect local industries, it should help to establish new ones that would produce goods that would meet the demands of Nigerians. The government through the Ministry of Industries must carry out the creation of new industrial establishments, and ensure full capacity utilization so that the goods produced might meet the needs of Nigerians, hence an Industrial Development Bank should be set up to source for funds for these projects.

The federal government must resuscitate all dead or collapsed industries, give new lease of life to all industries producing at minimum capacity utilization and ensure that new industries are brought on stream to meet the needs of consumers in respect of goods not produced in Nigeria before the ban.

Many Nigerians have often faulted the prosecution of poverty alleviation in the abstract, this present policy of the federal government is a right step in the right direction, it offers a tremendous opportunity of killing many birds with one stone; apart from saving scarce foreign exchange earnings, millions of Nigerians would be gainfully employed, and the industrial life of Nigeria would be improved upon.

From the lists of goods banned, a cursory look would reveal that the Nigerian environment is amenable to the production of the essential raw materials needed for these goods, and their eventual conversion to manufactured goods such as fruit juices, rice, sugar, palm oil etc. The decision to complement the ban with their eventual production would assist in the resuscitation of our agricultural potentialities.

The long period of importation of these manufactured goods have made the populace to abandon agriculture and to embrace it only on a subsistence level, hence our nation must do a lot of re-thinking. Let the federal government take the lead and interact with the other tiers of governments by preparing a road plan to agricultural rejuvenation so that each area is helped to produce the crops for which the environment is best suited for. Since the planting season is only months away, a start must be made.

Failure to take prompt action on this matter, the society would be made to suffer a double jeopardy when the ban on importation comes on stream, as alternative sources would be denied the people. By planting on plantation scale; mangoes, grapes, oranges, guava, pawpaw and pineapple for the production of all types of juices, we would have started to provide raw materials to feed the industries, and at the end of the day we would not only be exporting finished goods but raw materials.

As for the other banned items such as meat, eggs and chicken, this situation calls for government intervention in assisting the private developers in the development of animal husbandry that would meet the requirements of Nigerian�s large population. The National Economic Council chaired by the Vice President must seize this opportunity to start the long-awaited diversification of the Nigerian economy.

The nation has the wherewithal to grow cotton, yet the cotton used in the few textile mills still in operation are imported, and over 90% of our textile needs come from foreign lands. It is interesting to observe that despite the abundant tropical woods available in this country, Nigerian shops are stocked with Italian furniture.

It is therefore a matter for concern that Nigeria cannot continue to be a nation of consumers without being productive. If genuine efforts are made to make industries work in Nigeria, the importers would find it superfluous bringing goods that are available and cheaper in the country. To revive the economy, local industries must be put right to be able to provide substitute for the banned goods and the infrastructural facilities must be improved.

Concluded.

Joseph Omowa wrote in from Lagos

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