3rd February, 2017
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi , Ojaja II, says that he patronises and embraces Made-In-Nigeria goods as part of his contributions to the development and growth of the nation’s economy.
Oba Ogunwusi said in his palace at Ile Ife, Osun, that everything in his palace and conference hall were Made-in-Nigeria goods.
Also, between 65 per cent and 70 per cent of the fabric I wear today are made in Nigeria.
“The furniture, other interior decorations within the palace, my crown, hand and neck beads and chains, my shoes, rugs , animal skins and other items are Made-In-Nigeria goods.
“I am proud of them because they are made by people and my patronizing them is a way of identifying with them, encouraging local productions and job creation,’ he said.
The monarch advised Nigerians and their leaders to patronise Made-in-Nigeria products to sustain and revive the dwindling economy.
“The only thing left for us in this country is to start producing things locally and shun importation of foreign products.
“ This will help us grow our economy, boost the nation’s revenue and make us independent of foreign products” he said.
He said that Nigerians had the potential to produce better quality products if the necessary facilities, infrastructures, platforms and enabling environment were put in place.
Oba Ogunwusi also advised the Federal Government to diversify from mono-product economy to multi-product economy.
He said that it was unhealthy for the country to depend and survive on one sector of the economy.
“Our government has so much dependent on the oil sector leaving other sectors unutilized.
“ It is high time we took the advantage of the recession to diversify from the oil sector to other viable sectors like Agriculture and Culture, ” he said.
He said that Nigeria has the richest and best natural resources in the world.
Our agricultural products, crude oil, mineral resources, fertile soil and culture are the best globally, he said.
Ogunwusi advised the government to go return to Agriculture which he said was the nation’s major means of sustenance.
“We are a nation that can feed our nationals comfortably from our agricultural produce and also supply the excess to feed our neighbouring countries and the rest of the world.
“Because of the lost in focus, we have diversified to other sector that is unsustainable.
“ The best is for Nigeria to go back to agriculture and concentrate on encouraging locally produced goods.
“Before the country discovered crude oil, it was surviving on agricultural products such as cocoa, groundnut production as well as palm produce and mining.
“The revenue it realised from the agriculture sector was used to explore the first barrels of crude oil after it was discovered in Oloibiri some decades ago, ” he said.
The monarch recalled how former President Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration made efforts to revive and promote the moribund textile factories across the country.
He commended Chief Obasanjo’s passion and drive in promoting and encouraging the production and wearing of of Ankara fabrics in Nigeria and in other West African countries.
Ogunwusi also commended the laudable efforts of the present Federal Government aimed at reviving the dead factories so that they could resume productions.
The monarch said that resuscitating the moribund companies would create employment opportunities for the nation’s citizens, boost Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and increase internally generated revenue for governments.
The monarch appealed to the Federal Government to improve on the electricity supply in the country to encourage entrepreneurship.