Francis Meshioye, the president of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) recently made a distress call that was not only timely but also inevitable for the revival of Nigeria’s faltering economy.
Speaking at the 52nd annual general meeting of the association, Meshioye reeled out a catalogue of woes plaguing the nation’s manufacturing sector.
He listed exchange rate fluctuation, high energy cost, inadequate transportation infrastructure, persistent hikes in electricity tariff and high production cost as some of the factors beleaguering Nigeria’s manufacturing sector.
Those who listened to him might have dismissed the catalogue of woes he listed as normal phenomenon in an economy battling 40 per cent food inflation.
However, everyone was worried about one thing he listed as one of the factors hindering growth in the manufacturing sector. That factor is low patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods.
It is sad to note that after Nigerian manufacturers toil to produce goods by scaling the hazards mounted by the factors mentioned by the MAN president, the domestic market would shun the locally made goods in preference for foreign ones.
Basically, Nigerians have a voluptuous appetite for foreign goods even when they are inferior to locally made ones. For instance, most of the consumers in Europe prefer Nigerian rice because of its low cholesterol.
However, Nigerians prefer the unhygienic foreign rice. Greedy retailers now repackage Nigerian rice in foreign bags for sale.
Like Meshioye rightly pointed out, low patronage of locally made goods is a major factor behind Nigeria’s low economic growth. In the last three years, a number of foreign companies have fled Nigeria apparently due to low patronage.
Procter & Gamble, the American company that left Nigeria in 2023, lamented that its annual turnover had dropped to $50 million, a figure the company considered incapable of sustaining its operations in Nigeria.
Low patronage is engendered by an odd combination of economic and cultural factors. The cultural factor emanates from Nigerian consumers’ preference for foreign made goods. The perception is that foreign goods enhance a consumer’s social status.
The second factor, and probably the most compelling, is economic. Inflation has priced more than 140 million Nigerians out of the market for things as basic as food items. That is what drove Procter & Gamble out of Nigeria.
Besides, the persistent depreciation of the naira has made it increasingly difficult for millions of Nigerians to afford what were taken for granted in the past.
For instance, a 900grm loaf of bread that sold for N250 two years ago now sells for N1,800. Millions of Nigerians no longer eat bread. That is a serious minus for bakers.
Blueprint is troubled by the plague of low patronage for made-in-Nigeria goods because it is at the root of Nigeria’s high unemployment and low economic growth. We believe that the federal government should treat Meshioye’s request for patronage with the urgency it deserves.
The aspect of low patronage for locally made goods that should be resolved with dispatch is the lingering importation of petrol when Dangote Refinery is capable of feeding the domestic market.
Marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have exhibited undiluted preference for imported petrol even as the storage facilities of Dangote Refinery are overflowing with petrol.
Marketers have resorted to blackmail to sustain importation of petrol which obviously is to the detriment of Nigeria’s economy.
Dangote recently argued vehemently that the marketers are importing sub-standard petrol to prove that imported petrol is cheaper than the one from Dangote Refinery.
It’s obvious that even if petrol from Dangote Refinery was marginally more expensive than imported one, the gains from the foreign exchange to be saved by using locally refined petrol far exceeds the marginal difference in pump price.
However, we are convinced that petrol from Dangote Refinery is cheaper and of higher quality. Three months ago, marketers announced that the landing cost for imported petrol was N1,117 per liter. Dangote petrol landing cost is below N1,000 per liter.
We enjoin the federal government to take concrete steps to protect the fledgling local refiners from the intrigues of selfish marketers and European refiners.
Government can protect domestic refiners by placing a protective duty on imported petrol.
We demand a 50 per cent duty on imported petrol in view of the consequence awaiting domestic refiners if nothing is done to protect them.
On the distress call by Meshioye over low patronage of made-in-Nigeria goods, the federal government should embark upon massive enlightenment campaign to change the attitude of Nigerians to foreign made goods.
Nigerians should be persuaded to believe that patronage of local goods will create more jobs for our idle youths, reduce the outrageous demand for foreign exchange, allow the naira to appreciate and, above all, enhance economic growth.
