MANUFACTURERS from a section of the Eastern zone have called on President Goodluck Jonathan, to use his victory at the polls as an opportunity to finetune policy articulation and implementation in the country.The Chairman of the manufacturers in Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu states, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, told newsmen in Enugu, over the weekend, that government policies have not been well articulated, hence the negative impact on the manufacturing sector.Citing instances of Federal Governments shoddy policy articulation and implementation, the MAN boss pointed out that government had directed commercial banks to invest 10 per cent of their free tax profit on the manufacturing sector but regretted that execution was not only poor but that the policy left too many loopholes for the banks through a paltry penalty for default.Again during the capitalisation exercise we were told that it was intended to empower the banks with the capital outlay to support the productive sector notably the manufacturing. The policy failed because banks accumulated the funds but did not invest in the productive sector, he surmised.Obidigbo, who is also the chief executive officer of Hardis and Dromedas Limited, lamented that even the N200 billion recently earmarked for manufacturers, none of the thriving manufacturing firms benefited saying that the largesse was only made to service non-performing debtors.He said that no manufacturer was listed among the few that got paid.While describing the N200 billion facilities as faulty, Obidigbo disclosed that emphasis was paid on dead and ailing industries adding, how that fund was disbursed remains a great mystery to me.His words, why should the industrial policy of Nigeria emphasise dead and ailing industries when those doing well are in better position to provide new and sustainable employment opportunitiesMost of the policy makers do not take time to understand the cause of failure, all they are after is to inject funds into those areas because there is still the general but frivolous belief that fund is the most critical factor in manufacturing whereas there are other critical factors that could lead to failures.What I am saying is that the failure inducing factors are not diagnosed as such when more money is injected it leads to death. In effect, if the sum of N200 billion is prudently invested into the manufacturing sector of the economy, the impact will be felt nationally. But as at now no one can point to the achievement of the N200 billion, the effect is not felt anywhere. It has not impacted positively on the economy.The MAN boss passionately appealed to President Jonathan to do everything possible to reduce the cost of production in the country. So, that made in Nigeria goods could be competitive adding that unless our finished products are competitive, there would be no profit, and if there is no profit, the sector will remain stagnated and no potential investor will look in our direction.He stressed that reducing cost of production entails eliminating those forces that impair and injure our competitive efficiency and aptitude in the manufacturing sector of the economy.I, therefore, wish to use this opportunity to congratulate President Jonathan for the unprecedented and overwhelming support he got from Nigerians during the presidential election.captioIt goes to show how desperate Nigerians have become to form a nation state. And history is replete with stories of men, who single handedly turned the fortunes and destinies of their countries through visionary, honest and forthright leadership. And I see President Jonathan in the mould of such men; he has demonstrated enormous courage carry every along and move the nation forward, Obidigbo declared.
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