FG Charges Manufacturers on Producing to Meet International Standards...

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment has tasked manufacturers on producing goods to meet international standards, saying this is the only way the sector can compete with its contemporaries in the global market.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga during a facility tour of the newly commissioned Coleman Wires and Cables multi-billion naira factory, at Sagamu, Ogun state, expressed delight at the facility, maintaining that the nation needs investments such as these to provide employment opportunities for its teeming youths and driving economic growth.

In his words: “I wish more Nigerians could see what I am seeing so that they would be so proud of this country and her citizens. The future of this country is very great.

He noted that Nigeria was not where people think she was industrially, adding that “when one talks about investment in Nigeria, most people think industries cannot thrive because of electricity. But Nigerians are creatively finding ways around it. I am so excited it is the younger generations that are making this possible.

Continuing, he said that government has created the right atmosphere for younger generation to go into manufacturing, saying that his government has made it possible in the last four years by opening up the economy to the private sector and in the process creating the enabling environment for investment to succeed.

He explained that Nigeria was once a country that exported raw materials and import-dependent, putting a lot of pressure on her foreign reserves and exchange.

“And because we depended on imported finished goods in terms of revenue to the government, we were not diversified. We relied on oil money. But today oil prices are going in one direction and one can see the impact”, he said

Aganga observed that with industries like Coleman in Nigeria succeeding, it means more tax revenue to the government, maintaining investment like these are the ones that will create job opportunities.

"All the government needed to do was to create the enabling environment," he added.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Coleman Wires and Cables, Mr. George Onafowokan lauded the minister for his visit and promised not to relent in producing cables that meet international  standards.

He said the principal operation of Coleman is the manufacturing of electrical wires and cables for oil industries, commercial and residential as well as specialty cables all in good quality and high standards.

He promised the minister that Coleman will never compromise standards because all their products are of acceptable standards as required by law. He also informed the minister that everything about the ultra-modern factory was done is in line with the local content initiative of the federal government.

THISDAY