Mrs Buhari urges Nigerians to patronise made-in Nigeria goods
By Kemi Mobuse - Friday, February 26, 2016
The
Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has urged Nigerians
to patronize made in Nigeria goods with a view to creating
employment and strengthening the country’s economy.
Mrs
Buhari made the call when she inaugurated the Made in Nigeria Tomoto Paste
Factory, Erisco Foods
Limited, on Thursday in Lagos.
She
said that; "the need to patronise Nigerian goods had become necessary as it
would encourage the production of local farm products and improve the health of
citizens."
She
also urged manufacturing companies in the country to emulate Erisco company by
using locally available raw materials to produce their goods to ensure economic
development.
She
added that “I think we have imported enough and we have to change
that culture of importing things we can produce locally,” Mrs. Buhari said in her address. I believe this is part of the change process which the
present administration is all about. “The event we are witnessing today is not
only unique but also important because this company is able to produce 450,000
tonnes of tomato paste using local tomatoes.’’
She
then commended the company for donating food items to Internally Displace
Persons (IDPs) in the North East and also for providing employment to youths.
Also speaking at
the event, President/CEO of Erisco Foods, Chief Eric Umeofia, said the new
plant was an expansion and improvement on the existing one using the latest
technology that allows fresh tomatoes sourced within Nigeria from local farmers
to be processed into tomato paste. He said the idea of the new
plant was borne out of the need to resolve the glut in the tomato products from
farmers, particularly in the northern part of the country, who losing about 75
per cent of their produce due to the absence of storage or processing
facilities.
Said Umeofia: “I
visited northern Nigeria frequently in the recent past and I saw how more than
75 per cent of tomatoes harvested yearly are being wasted. Sadly, however,
Nigeria spends about $1 billion importing tomato paste from abroad. All that
will end with the inauguration of this project. Our new technology in this
facility puts an end to all the waste Nigerian farmers are suffering
over the years because it is a backward integration project investment we have
made for Nigeria.
“We can now take 10
trucks of fresh tomatoes daily and process the fresh tomatoes to tomato paste
and this factory is the first of its kind in Africa,” he added.
0 comments