Naira: Build productive economy with local manufacturers – Monarch

Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has charged the Federal Government to intensify its patronage of local manufacturers as a deliberate means of growing the economy.

Speaking in Ile-Ife in commemoration of the eighth anniversary of ascending the Ooni throne, he said the country’s political leaders must begin to patronise local industry in every sector to generate employment for the teeming populace.

According to him, it is time leaders ensured that 70 per cent of products they use are made locally. “Their fleet of cars should be made up of the likes of Innoson vehicles. Our leaders should lead by example. They should make it a policy for foreign companies to produce 70 per cent of their products in Nigeria, or they cannot get contracts in the country.

“Lawmakers and the executive should start using local products. I am a good example of a local content user. My attire is 75 per cent made in Nigeria. My cap is made in Ife, Osun State; my overall was made in Iseyin, Oyo State; my beads are made in Edo and Ife; my shoes are made in Aba, and my clothing is made in Kano State.

“Lawmakers should wear clothes made in Nigeria to build the economy and reduce the dollar pressure on the economy,” he said.