President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to push for the patronisation of locally made products saying it would boost the creation of jobs in the country, asserting that his administration will not allow Nigeria to export jobs.
The president said this when he received the National Executive Council of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Worker at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday, adding that the creation of more jobs is the priority of his administration.
Buhari noted that the textile and garment sector has the potential to create millions of jobs and will, therefore, remain one of the priority sectors for his administration.
“We promoted policies that will support local industries such as import restrictions. We introduced programmes that provided affordable and accessible capital to both large and cottage industries,” President Buhari said.
He added, “We will not allow Nigeria to return to the days of exporting jobs through the importation of food and clothing items which can be produced locally. We owe this to the over 200 million Nigerians.”
He urged State Governments to buy into this policy for their schools, hospitals and other institutions.
On the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which Nigeria recently signed, President Buhari said, “We have developed a comprehensive strategy to fully optimise the benefits. Our priority remains to create jobs in Africa for Africans using a large proportion of African raw materials.”
