The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has urged the Federal Government to transform the Nigeria First Policy into law to bolster the manufacturing sector.
In his keynote address at the 2025 BusinessDay Manufacturing Conference in Lagos, MAN Director-General Segun Ajayi-Kadir emphasized that gazetting the procurement policy would ensure its implementation across all government arms and the private sector.
The Nigeria First Policy mandates Federal Government ministries, departments, and agencies to prioritize locally made products in their budgetary allocations. Ajayi-Kadir argued that making the policy legally binding, with punitive measures for violators, is crucial to ensuring transparency, enforceability, and widespread adoption.
He warned that without a formal legal framework, the policy risks meeting the same fate as past executive orders—003 and 005 —which failed to deliver tangible impacts.
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“Nigeria must seize this moment to transform its manufacturing sector by prioritizing local products. If we fail to nurture our own, we will forever be at the mercy of others,” Ajayi-Kadir stated.
Highlighting the challenges facing manufacturers, he revealed that 767 manufacturing companies shut down in 2023 , resulting in the loss of over 18,000 jobs in 2024 . Rising costs, policy inconsistencies, infrastructural decay, and currency depreciation have rendered the sector nearly unviable.
MAN also called on the government to address pressing issues, including the $2.4 billion in unsettled foreign exchange forwards , the 15% increase in port charges by the Nigerian Ports Authority , and the suspended but previously enforced 4% Free on Board levy on exports .
Ajayi-Kadir further urged the fast-tracking of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline , which could inject 3.6 GW into the power grid , significantly easing manufacturers’ energy burdens.
Additionally, MAN recommended adopting its 2024 Manufacturers Summit Report as a blueprint for a national industrial policy, stressing, “A nation without a clear industrial policy is like a ship without a rudder.”
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