First came Sugar… then Cement… now, petroleum refining. The cycle of seeking protectionist Backward Integration Policies to protect a few players in limited industries keeps repeating itself. Only in this case, what should strengthen our collective economy is protecting a few big businesses and shutting out others, therefore holding Nigerians to ransom.
Let us say it as it is: We have seen this before, with all sorts of ventures in various sectors. One of Nigeria’s biggest businessmen sets out to enter a new industry in a big way. Government pulls out all the stops to support the actualization of that dream with several incentives because presumably,
The Senate, Thursday, raised the alarm that the majority of the imported syringes and needles are substandard, unsterile that are used and rewashed syringes from the Asian continent and thereafter imported into the country.
There is increasing attention to producing agro-allied products locally to sustain food security and enhance good nutrition, especially if the talk about ending hunger and reducing poverty in Nigeria is to be achieved.
With a focus now on home-grown alternatives to achieve this purpose, it may not be long before the nation begins to witness a drive towards sustainable processes that ensures local agro-industries become pivotal to the country’s entire agricultural value chain. x
Experts have reiterated that meticulous and phased implementation of the Backward Integration Policy (BIP) of the Federal Government would not only boost local content utilisation, import substitution but also enhance job creation potentialities of agro-allied industries, increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ensure food security and industrial growth.