Technocrats, at a public lecture in Lagos, yesterday, lamented that in spite of Nigeria’s human and natural resources which should have made her one of the frontline countries of the world, she has remained underdeveloped.
They put the blame on government policies that are inimical to industrial growth.
Making this assertion were the Chairman of LEADERSHIP Newspapers’ Group Mr. Sam Nda- Isaiah, renowned Pharmacist Dr. Nelson Uwaga and many other technocrats who converged on Lagos for the first edition of Nigeria Association of Industrial Pharmacists (NAIP), distinguished lecture series.
Nda-Isaiah who was the chairman of the occasion said that growth opportunities that were available in the nation’s industrial sector could only be harnessed if there were sound government policies in place. He said, “Any country you see doing well industrially, there must be some good government policies directed at such results.
And that is what differentiates industrialised countries and those that are not. That is the reason why Nigeria is where it is today .If you look at our own industries, that is the pharmaceutical industries, you find out that there was a time in this country in the 90s that our local manufacturing plants were actually operating at nearly full capacity. That was the time of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF).
“At that time, the PTF insisted, as a rule, that all drugs to be purchased for public hospitals must be locally manufactured. It was a rule. Even if the contract was awarded to a supplier, he must ensure that the drugs are from local manufacturers. That is the kind of policy we are talking about .If that policy in the 90s had continued, we would have more pharmaceutical industries in the country today”.
The LEADERSHIP boss who was flanked by the Managing Director of Coca –Cola Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Kelvin Balogun , Former NAIP president, Pharmacist Susan Oremole and Dr. Nelson Uwaga said that military administrations in the country were more committed to industrial growth than their civilian compatroits.
“You must have noted that in those military days, from the president down, their official cars were usually assembled in Nigeria. PAN and Volkswagen were doing well. The president used Peugeot car as official car, all the ministers, all the governors.
The companies were booming and employed many people. If we had continued with that as other countries did in the 90s, things would have been different now”.