The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has said the Federal Government will intensify and sustain the campaign for the patronage of made-in-Nigeria products.
The Minister said this in Lagos at the launch of the South West campaign.
“One issue that is very important to our Administration is the diversification of the economy away from oil. Boosting industrial development, especially through the local production of goods and services, is a major fulcrum of this policy. Patronising Made-in-Nigeria goods and services is also key to the success of the policy. This is why we are passionate about this Made-in-Nigeria Campaign,” he said.
Mohammed restated the Administration’s commitment to institutionalising the patronage of locally made products by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) through the review of the Bureau of Public Procurement Act to make it mandatory for the MDAs to patronise local products.
He said the campaign followed the Executive Order signed by the then Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, to encourage the patronage of locally made products.
The Minister also used the occasion to appeal to private media establishments to join hands with the government to create awareness among the citizenry on the patronage of locally-made products.
He said he had personally undertaken a number of advocacy visits to encourage local manufacturers and also help to showcase their products, citing the visit to Innoson Motors in Nnewi, Anambra State, in June this year and his commissioning of a local manufacturing plant for Set-Top-Boxes in Calabar in October 2017.