As we enter the second quarter of 2025, every Nigerian needs to start thinking manufacturing, manufacturing, manufacturing to get the country out of its current rut

Ayo Akinfe

[1] As things stand, Nigeria produces next to nothing and is arguably the most parasitic economy in the world

[2] One could argue that this crisis is nowhere more pronounced than in the medical equipment sector. Covid-19 exposed Nigeria for what she was - a dependent economy that exports crude oil and then uses the proceeds to import everything she needs. We should be ashamed of the fact that we could not manufacture a Covid vaccine and were dependent on charitable donations

[3] Just to put everything into perspective, India and China both have populations of 1.4bn and are served by 10,000 and 5,000 pharmaceutical companies respectively. Africa in contrast has a population of 1.1bn, which is served by just 375 drug companies, while Nigeria with population of 200m is served by a mere 110 companies.

[4] Globally the pharmaceutical market was worth about $2trn annually and is growing at rate of about 5.8% per annum. Emerging markets display the highest growth rates in pharmaceuticals because population and consumption increases are among. Nigeria needs to be in the thick of this

[5] What we see in the pharmaceutical sector is no different from what happens with automobiles, mobile phones, fridge-freezers, Plasma TV sets, railway carriages, aircraft, oil rigs, etc. As a people, we are shamelessly dependent on imports for our survival

[6] Where is our pride as a sovereign nation if we cannot major the basic consumer goods we require for everyday life

[7] Every household in Nigeria has a generator set, yet we do not even manufacture generators locally. For me, that is going way too far now. Generator imports should have been banned long ago to force the pace of local manufacturing

[8] For me, the only way forward is to set national targets in all these sectors with severe punishment for anyone failing to meet set down goals

[9] State governors who fail to meet production targets for instance should face statutory impeachment proceedings. States of emergencies should be declared in such territories too

[10] Maybe to kickstart the process we need a manufacturing csar. Someone with a mandate to quadruple industrial output annually

ayoakinfe@gmail.com