Economists urge FG to give priority to manufacturing sector

As the nation exited one of its worst recessions in decades, the Federal Government has been urged to shift focus to the manufacturing sector to fast-track economic growth and to create employment opportunities to the benefit of the citizenry.

The President, Nigerian Economic Society (NES), Professor Ben Aigbokhan, made the plea yesterday in Abuja at a meeting as part of the activities marking the 58th annual conference of the society holding in Abuja between September 26 and September 28, 2017 themed: “The Imperatives of Industrialization in Nigeria”.

While saying that the nation’s economy has been too monocultural and structurally skewed towards the oil sector and that the industrial sector is one of the key indicators to measure a growing economy, he added that developing the manufacturing sector is a key factor to economic growth for a country like Nigeria.

He however commended the federal government especially the Ministry of Budget and Planning for keying into the NES recommendations which has helped the economy to move out recession.

“We raised that last year for discussion and we are happy to note that since that conference we noticed a concerted initiative that government has taken since that time especially in the agricultural sector, solid mineral sector and the small and medium scale sub sector.

“This reflects our theme of argument being considered and we feel our effort was not wasted. The modern economy is known more with its industrial base, that is, the manufacturing base. The recession we went through was because of our mono economy and the population suffered. The importing of manufacturing goods mainly was the crux of the hardship we are going through. A big proportion of manufacturing goods had to be imported and that made the people to feel the impact of the recession the more,” Aigbokhan said.

He added, “And just on the heel of that if you are taking of diversification, the agricultural sector has been taken the lead. But the modern economy is known more with its industrial base, that is, the manufacturing base. The importing of manufacturing goods mainly was the crux of the hardship we are going through. A big proportion of manufacturing goods had to be imported and that made the people to feel the impact of the recession the more. It was based on this that the Nigeria Economic Society that we thought that the second leg of diversification should really focus on industrialization and the reason we settled for the theme this year.”

Expected at the conference are former governors of the CBN including the Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II, and Prof Chukwuma Soludo among other economic and policy experts.