NAN-H-47
Appetite
By Victor Adeoti
Osogbo, Oct. 13, 2016 (NAN) A lawmaker in Osun, Mr Babatunde Olatunji, has appealed to Nigerians to cut their appetite for foreign goods, blaming the phenomenon for the present state of the economy.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Osogbo, Olatunji said a cut in appetite for foreign goods would help the nation’s economy.
He said that the manner in which Nigerians spend foreign exchange on unnecessary imported goods was worrisome, and was killing the nation’s economy.
Olatunji, (APC-Ife North) who is the House Committee Chairman on Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment, encouraged government at all levels to commit huge resources to agriculture.
He said government should ban the importation of luxury goods, adding that Nigerians also need to reflect on what their appetite for foreign goods was doing to the nation’s economy.
According to him, government needs to identify areas where the nation has comparative advantage and invest in them for the economy to grow.
“We must go back to all those things we have abandoned for foreign goods and invest massively in areas of our comparative advantage.
“It will not come cheap and it will be painful, but if we can endure and take these steps, the country will be better off for it,” the lawmaker said.
Olatunji said that Nigerians had to change their mindset and orientation about made in Nigeria products.
According to him, the country has what it takes to salvage the current economic recession.
The lawmaker also urged Nigerians to be patriotic and always put the country first. (NAN)
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Edited by Bayo Sekoni/Oluwole Sogunle