Lai Olurode, a former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission, has urged the government to stop lavishing political elites with imported goods at the expense of local producers.
Olurode, who spoke in Iwo, Osun State, on Saturday after receiving a distinguished award from the Iwo Compatible Fellows, bemoaned the country’s lack of industries, saying it might stymie Nigeria’s progress.
The retired university professor recalled a government strategy that encouraged cottage industries, emphasizing that the policy provided governmental protection for local embryonic industry initiatives against importation.
He stated that progress would be impossible without production, saying that countries such as Russia and the United States had preserved their industries in order to save local jobs and boost the economy.
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“There is no doubt that small-scale entrepreneurs are the major employers of labor,” he added. We require policies that will ensure their long-term viability, growth, and development.
“There was once an industrial policy that grew cottage industries as well as major industries in all regions of Nigeria. This policy once provided state protection to local nascent industrial efforts against cheap importation and dumping.
“Unbridled importation can only signal economic slavery for third world countries. Nigeria has the population and it has the potential to capture the market in the West Africa sub-region. The state and local authorities should support local entrepreneurs with grants.
“There is too much pandering to and pampering of political elites who are mainly consumers rather than being producers. it is high time we focus on empowering our local entrepreneurs.”
Olurode, however, expressed confidence in the ability of President Bola Tinubu, who he described as an investor, with the wherewithal to breathe life into the country’s once active and robust industrial path in different locations.
