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| President Muhammadu Buhari |
The nation’s ailing and moribund textile, mining and
agro-based industries will soon be revived to reduce unemployment, it has been
learnt. President Muhammadu
Buhari, who gave this indication yesterday, said he had ordered “some immediate
interventions” to address challenges faced by industrialists.
He spoke when a
delegation of foreign investors visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Buhari, in a statement by
his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the creation of
more jobs for youths was the key objective of his administration’s economic
agenda. This, he said, would be
pursued with the greatest possible dedication.
The Nation report continues:
He said: “I still recall
with clarity that at some point, the textile industry in Nigeria was employing
about 320,000 Nigerians. But today, the same industry employs less than 30,000
people and the factories operate below capacity or they are completely closed.
“I have made a promise to
Nigerians that jobs will be created as part of efforts to revive the economy
and that promise will be fulfilled. We will move as fast as we can to
resuscitate the textile and mining industries, and also improve production in
our agricultural sector.
“Now that we are trying
to create jobs, we cannot allow industries and factories to close down.
Instead, we should be making every effort to ensure that we reopen the closed
ones and attract new ones to reduce unemployment,” Buhari told the investors
who are the proprietors of Olam Farms Nigeria Limited.
He assured the
delegation, which was led by Mr. Mukul Mathur, that his administration would
encourage investments in agriculture and other sectors of the economy by
creating a more favourable environment and enabling laws.
The president said he
ordered the interventions to address challenges faced by industrialists after
being briefed by Ministries of Agriculture and Industries, Trade and
Investment.
“We will move very
quickly to see what we can do to help you and other investors in the country so
that you can help us to create jobs for our people,” the president told Mathur
and his team.
Mathur told the President
that Olam Group of Companies was established in Nigeria in 1989 and employs
about half a million Nigerians, directly and indirectly.
He, however, said the group
was facing difficulties with the reversal of some government policies in 2010
and 2013, which could lead to the closure of some of its industries in the
country.
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