The chairman of Toiletries and Cosmetics (T & C) Group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (M.A.N), Uche Okafor, has attributed the deteriorating state of Nigeria’s economy to irresponsible leadership.
The Chairman of the T&C Group, who was speaking at the occasion of his investiture as the 38th President of Rotary club of Agbara, in Lagos on Saturday, urged Nigerian youths to seize the opportunity of the upcoming elections in 2023 to elect responsible leaders who will bring back the glory days of the country.
In his words, “It is unfortunate that the leadership of this country does not respect the vital role that we as manufacturers are playing, instead they are frustrating industrialists and companies.
“Ordinarily, they ought to be supporting and encouraging productive people to do better because we’re playing a very vital role in the economy whereby we provide jobs for our teaming unemployed population of youths and also contribute to the nation’s GDP.
The economy is not vibrant because the leadership is not doing enough as it were, so the youths have been thrown into a lot of vices.
“We want to advise the youths of Nigeria to take the destiny of this country in their hands and do whatever it takes to elect responsible leaders who will help to build the nation’s economy”
On why the Manufacturing sector is not contributing much to the GDP as it should, Okafor reiterated that poor leadership has contributed to the low performance.
“It is common knowledge that Micro small and medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) are the live wire of every economy, so instead of growing our SMEs, the political class is killing them and how else can they grow the sector except by implementing viable economic policies.
“There are so many government interventions and so many more things the government can do to encourage productivity and enhance the life span of SMEs in the country.
Talking about infrastructure, if power supply increases in the country than what we have today, many new MSMEs will spring up everywhere providing jobs and stimulating higher growth of the economy.” He further stated.
For his part, the Director of communications, Rotary Club of Agbara, Wahab Abdul-Rahman, highlighted the need for charitable organisations in the country to support the less privileged and physically challenged at this critical times.
He shed light on the benevolent activities of Rotary Club noting that the Club has been doing a lot in giving, touching lives and empowering the less privileged in the society. He appealed to the government to consult with charitable institutions in formulating policies that would positively impact the lives of the citizens.
“If government can sit down with charitable organisations like Rotary, to fashion out policies that would affect the lives of the people, then the country would be a better place to live in. Rotary is neither for the rich nor the poor but for those who have the heart to give and are willing to give without prejudice. Like our motto says; give until it pains you” Abdul-Rahman said.
Comment here