By Obiaraeri Nnaemeka Onyeka
✍️I have long advocated that for Nigeria to build up her critical human capital potentials/needs, engender profitable enterprise development, create jobs and drastically reduce poverty, we must adopt a very scientific, intentional, sustained and measurable intervention programs and policies across all the key sectors of the economy
✍️Some of these policies and programs must not be adhoc and knee jerk programs founded on corruption/Nepotism, like the NPower, Trader Monies, and other programs administered by the Humanitarian affairs and Labour Ministries.
✍️We must adopt and modify the Igbo Apprenticeship Schemes or Italian Copado Model
💥Let me explain…
✍️For instance, NIKE, Adidas, and Puma combined annually Turnover is over $80bn… HOWEVER, these footwear and apparel producing/ distributing companies, do most of their production under a contract production arrangement with some of the top producing factories in China , Vietnam, Bangladesh etc …
✍️The US alone imports over $120bn worth of footwear and apparel commodities annually. And most of these goods comes from Asia …China , Vietnam, Cambodia , Bangladesh etc
✍️Interestingly, successive Governments in the US starting from George Bush, provided free export tarrif window in the US, for African countries to produce and export apparels, footwear and processed leather products into the US under the African Growth Opportunity Acts [AGOA] , framework, which successive governments in Nigeria have not explored or exploited to optimum national development effects…
✍️The President Olusegun Obasanjo Government at the center [ 1999-2007] and Governor Donald Duke of Cross River State [1999-2007], started out some things in that direction that was abandoned by subsequent governments after them.
✍️We are all aware of the grave limitations/hurdles that hamper enterprise growth/ development, manufacturing and production in Nigeria… I won’t bore us with statement of problems rehearsals.. I am solution driven and focused ..
✍️We also know what to do to overcome some of these impediments and limitations.
✍️From Abuja to Aba to Onitsha to Kano , you read exploits of skilled Nigerians, who are struggling to overcome the great limitations and burdens, put on their resilient spirits by external, security and fiscal limitations that can easily be mitigated by very focused governments..
✍️We can easily develop sector/special skilled clusters of focused enterprise development mini industrial clusters in every of the 8,809 wards in Nigeria based on competitive production advantages ( with the FGN, States and LGAs ) working in synchronised and synergistic manner .
✍️We can easily set up clusters of garment and shoe producing mini industrial parks in Aba Abia state… Provide them with the required training infrastructure, housing, equipment, machines, power , utilities, access roads and access to these International markets and consumers of such quality garment and leather works …
✍️This can be replicated in all the other sectors including agro processing.
✍️ I have also written about setting up of clusters of basic Agro equipment leasing centers under a robust MCPPP framework across the 8, 809 electoral wards in Nigeria in very scientific manners .
✍️Each Agro equipment leasing clusters will take care of farmers and will help Nigeria to cultivate and develop at least 3,500 acres of agro orchards in each of the 8,809 wards annually ..
✍️Mini Agro industrial parks will also be set up to process the outputs from the agro upstream sectors ….
✍️The design , structuring, funding and execution of these schemes, will be so put together in such a transparent, see through and measurable architecture, that funding partners/development agencies, and even end product buyers/offtakers and consumers will be so excited to be part of it
✍️We have also not forgotten that we must remove the huge public sector bureaucratic bottle necks and various extortion points at our International sea and air gateways, so as to encourage exporters and make export interesting for budding Nigerian entrepreneurs..
✍️As exciting as these huge export potentials and opportunities are, we cannot even start off , unless, we elect and appoint passionately creative and patriotic Nigerians, who understand the policy/program design and execution dynamics of some of these schemes into positions of power at all levels of Governments, and MDAs in the land ..
✍️I pray that God helps a majority of us to sign up, stay focused and get committed to building enduring wealth based on honest enterprise for a majority of our compatriots
✍️Nigeria can easily ramp up and generate over $200bn non oil export revenues annually
Thank you
