The recent decision of the Federal Government to fling open Nigeria’s border for certain categories of foreign goods may mark the gradual death of many manufacturing industries at home.

The Assistant General Superintendent of Christ Apostolic Church Obadare Centre, in Lagos, Pastor Jimmy Olufemi-Alabi, who made the observation on Sunday in an email to the Nigetian Tribune, said the action confirmed the fears in experts that the government had never been committed to promoting local production.

He said the move was an indication that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was averse to encurgong investors to explore the comparative advantage the country had over many countries in so many economic areas.

“This is a death blow to made-in-Nigeria goods and all efforts, plans and initiatives in that direction. This policy somersault has aborted any initiative called Millennium Development Goals (MDG) or Vision 2020.

He said the decision would only compound the current economic woes posed by the fact that more than 50 per cent of existing industries in Nigeria had packed up as a result of worsening energy crisis, high bank interest rate (deposit at two per cent, while lending is at 24 per cent on the average), insecurity, among others with the attendant rising mass unemployment.

He stated, “Various empowerment programmes by government and private initiatives, as well as thriving jamborees to lure foreign investors to Nigeria are not yielding desired fruits, except on IT-Telecom Sector.
How many textile, refineries, automobile , and so on investor s are coming to Nigeria now? The only thriving business in Nigeria now is politics and governance, which is full of corruption, insensitivity and a matter of do or dies.

The cleric wondered why the government could allow a meagre Chinese loan, designed as a bait, influenced it to throw over board all efforts at industrializing Nigeria, kill local initiative and create mass unemployment, leading to more insecurity.

According to him, it is only a lazy brain that should use smuggling, which can be curtailed, as an excuse to jettison such lofty policies like Vision 2020, MDG, Intervention fundings, various empowerment Initiatives, among others.

“It is amazing that the government of Dr. Jonathan, seen as the hope of modern Nigeria and the sure ladder to socio-political and economic progress will suddenly embark on a policy somersault that will crash land the polity.

“Trading, which this new policy favours, engages only few hands. What about million of youths that are chrned out of our higher sinstitutions yearly,” he queried.

He warned that the latest policy somersault could “send us back into another decade of penury,” advising the president to quickly reverse it to protect local industries.