By Charles Nwaoguji
The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Bank of Industry (BoI), among other agencies, have been declared as key to the effective implementation of the Executive Order on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.
The Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, stated this at the nationwide Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) clinic held recently at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
According to him, the agencies are a major feature of the MSMEs clinic, which is currently going round all the states of the federation in a bid to interact with operators and try to solve their problems.
Osinbajo called on governments at the state and federal levels to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods, stressing that the country has arrived at a stage where it needs to be self-reliant. The only way this can be achieved, according to him, “is when we patronise made-in-Nigeria goods and products.”
He reiterated governments commitment to boosting the activities of MSMEs as the drivers of the made-in-Nigeria revolution.
While going inspecting the exhibition stands at the event where he came across young men and women producers and entrepreneurs creating products from what they have available, he said, “the future of our country is in the hands of small businesses doing great things.”
The task for government, according to the Acting President, is to play its role of creating the enabling environment by developing and funding MSMEs through the intervention of relevant government agencies. He stated that government is taking the agencies to the MSMEs instead of the other way round so as to know their problems and help proffer practicable solutions to them.
He stated that there has been tremendous improvement to that effect on how the agencies have been helping MSMEs find their feet.
Speaking further, the Acting President reiterated that two Executive Orders recently signed for the Ease of Doing Business and Local Content were to ensure that this is carried out seamlessly to accentuate government’s resolve in boosting the nation’s economy through small businesses.
Accordingly, he said the Executive Order for the Ease of Doing Business has ensured that registration turnaround time with SON, NAFDAC and CAC has been greatly abridged and administrative costs subsidised by up to 50 per cent. The Executive Order for Local Content has also specified that states and the Federal Government patronise made-in-Nigeria goods and products. “To underscore this, the Nigerian Armed Forces are already in the forefront of patronising made-in-Nigeria