In the Senate is a member championing the ‘Buy Nigerian’ campaign. But when the Senate wanted to buy some vehicles, it patronised those made overseas. The Senate blew N3.9billion on that acquisition. The upper chamber’s action, experts say, may have set the local auto industry and policy backward by at least four years. Assistant Editor MUYIWA LUCAS reports.
Before the mid 90s, Kaduna State was more or less the powerhouse of Nigeria’s the country’s automobile industry. For instance, from the automobile assembly plant of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN), 225 vehicles came off the lines daily, with over 5, 000 workers in direct employment.
Equally, several cottage and other composite industries producing the requisite parts for automobile production like Exide Battery in Ibadan, Oyo State, Dunlop and Michellin tyres, tannery firms, amongst others, all enjoyed good business as a result of the manufacturing activities in PAN.
The successes recorded by local manufacturing firms back then was not only because of a flourishing economy, but also as a result of the government policy then, which favoured consumption of locally made products.
For instance, it is on record that Peugeot automobile series was the official car for all government officials. This policy ensured that PAN thrived, keeping many people in gainful employment.
The auto industry where PAN was a dominant player was not the only industry that thrived on the back of a government policy that favoured consumption of locally made products. The textile industry also flourished. Since there was no major importation of fabrics back then, local textile firms had huge patronage to keep them in business.
For Instance, the Chairman, Adhama Textile Limited, Kano, Alhaji Seidu Adhama, has very fond memories of the glorious days of industries in Kano. Those were the era of machines churning out various products from factories scattered across the ancient city.
In his firm, which specialised in textile garment manufacturing, there were over 2, 000 workers across three daily shifts earning a living and, by extension, contributing their quota to the growth of both the state and national economy. Again, that was up until the early 1990s.
However, following the opening up of the economy to foreign goods, the tide changed. The resultant effect of this was the gradual death of local industries who could not compete with the era of unbriddled importation.
The managing director of Dala Foods, and Vice President, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Alhaji Alli Madugu, corroborated this. He explained that goods, especially from Asia, flooded the Nigerian market and subsequently killed the manufacturing base of the country.
According to him, because it became more challenging for local manufacturers, importation became the order of the day. Madugu, however, regrets that textile products amongst others so imported, were substandard.
“Our markets have been flooded with substandard goods from Asia, making manufacturing very difficult. If any manufacturer wants to die of hypertension, then let him try to manufacture products imported from Asia,” Madugu said.
However, in a bid to halt the trend, not only was a ban placed on the allocation of foreign exchange (forex) for the importation of 41 items that are otherwise produced locally, the ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ campaign’ was rejuvenated.
Last month, the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, was emphatic on the importance of patronage of Made- in- Nigeria products by Nigerians, which he noted can contribute to the revival of the cotton, textile and garment industries.
“Nigerians buying Nigerian products is very important and it goes beyond the symbolism of wearing Nigerian-made dresses. It is important for our economy and well-being,” Prof. Osinbajo said.
Similarly, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, proposed a “Patronise Naija Products Campaign.” A host of legislators like the Senate President Bukola Saraki, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, also championed this cause.
Bruce, it will be recalled, even went a notch higher, introducing a hashtag #BuyNaijaToGrowtheNaira.
Saraki reportedly promised that the Public Procurement Act will be amended by the 8th National Assembly to make it mandatory for the government to patronise locally made goods.
Regretably however, while not a few Nigerians applauded the campaign and were ready to join the train because of its obvious economic benefits, legislators at the upper chamber, the Senate pulled the rug off Nigerians’ feet.
The buy ‘Made-in-Nigeria’ campaign suffered a major setback following the recent procurement of wholly-imported Toyota Land Cruiser VXR V8 Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) valued at N3.9 billion by the Senate, instead of purchasing comparable locally-assembled brands.
This transaction, The Nation learnt, contravened an official circular from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation mandating all government agencies to procure Made-in-Nigeria vehicles except if a locally made equivalent isn’t available.
Expectedly, the Senators’ action has drawn the ire of the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA). The asociation described the purchase as “despicable and catastrophic to about 4, 000 jobs and roughly 50 ancillary industries currently engaged by the home-grown Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs).”
For NAMA, the Senate’s action is an impediment to the growth of the local automotive industry, which is said to have taken the industry backward by at least four years.
According to NAMA chairman, Mr. Tokunbo Aromolaran, the Senate could have saved suffering Nigerians 40 per cent of the eventual outlay and sustain at least 50 medium scale enterprises had it procured vehicles assembled by talented and diligent Nigerian workforce.
“It was a rude shock to learn of the decision of the Senate to procure imported fully built SUVs when much more affordable locally assembled alternatives were offered,” he said.
The Plant Head, Stallion NMN, manufacturers of Nissan, Mr. Prakash Karat, said there is a need for a dependable policy that could drive vehicle manufacturing and enhance sales, adding that local plants shouldn’t be struggling to sell their inventory when a larger percentage of the country’s population are youths.
Renowned columnist and publisher, the cable, Mr. Simon Kolawole, in his piece however argued that promoting “Made-in-Nigeria,” requires that Nigerian producers rise up to the challenge. He urged local manufacturers to step up their game because if Nigerians find quality in a locally made product, they will not resist it.
“I have been hearing about “Fly Nigeria”. But a traveller who has enjoyed quality service from British Airways and Virgin Atlantic would find it very difficult to fly Nigerian airlines on international routes. To start with, our airlines don’t keep to time. The service is from poor to average, even if the planes are in good condition. After all, you will get both safety and service from BA and VAA, so why compromise your comfort just for the emotion of “Fly Nigeria”?
Kolawole said it is not easy for Nigerian products to attain export standards given the numerous obstacles- hostile business environment lacking in infrastructural backbone, financial power and political support, that have kept the local industry retarded and struggling for decades.
He, therefore, explained that there is a need to implement, not just conceive, pro-Made-in- Nigeria policies that will fertilise the growth of industry like policies on trade, tariffs and taxes to local manufacturers’ advantage. “We need infrastructure and cheap capital. We need border security to curb smuggling so that we don’t gain on the right and lose on the left. Above all, Nigerian companies must dream like Sony to change the poor-quality image of “Made-in-Nigeria”. It is one thing to market a product with sentiments, it is another thing for the consumer to be satisfied and keep asking for more,” he said.
Stakeholders are, however, of the opinion that to achieve this feat on quality assurance, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), being the body responsible for controlling quality of products in the Nigerian market, needs to be alive to its responsibility.
According to them, SON’s continued lamentations of influx of substandard goods into the country can no longer be tolerated as it is a representation of lapses on the organisation’s part. But by and large, the buy made-in-Nigeria policy may just remain a cliché if appropriate steps in this direction does not come from government through strict enforcement of existing policies in this direction.
