President Muhammadu Buhari hinted yesterday that he would gladly reverse or abandon some economic policies he inherited from past administrations if doing so would lead to the creation of more jobs for Nigerians.
Accordingly, he has directed the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment, and that Finance, as well as the Central Bank and other relevant government agencies to evolve, before next year’s budget, new policies to boost domestic manufacturing.
Buhari, who stated this at a meeting with the executive members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, lamented that the textile industry that employed about 320,000 people in the past only has about 30,000 now.
Presidential spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted Buhari as saying in the meeting: “We are in difficult times economically, but we’ll continue to do our best for manufacturing to pick up. We must begin to behave as if we have no oil at all.
“We will gladly have policy somersaults if it will mean more jobs, particularly for youths. I campaigned on three major planks: to effectively secure our country, provide employment through revamping the economy, and wage a relentless war against corruption. I intend to keep faith with these promises.”
Expressing regret at the dwindling fortunes of the textile industry, the president said, “It shows the carelessness of past governments if almost 300,000 people lose jobs in a single sector. We have a clear idea of how we can stimulate employment and we will work very hard to do so.”
Earlier, MAN president, Dr Frank Udemba Jacobs, had appealed for a review of policies that were stifling the manufacturing sector.
He told the president that a robust manufacturing sector was essential to the country’s economic wellbeing.
