As part of moves to encourage the patronage of Madein- Nigeria goods, about 120 exhibitors are expected to storm Abuja for the forthcoming Made-in-Aba fair.
The over 100 exhibitors, comprising primarily artisans and local producers from Aba will be participating.
The fair, being facilitated by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, would be organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) from November 18 to 22 in Abuja.
Speaking at a press conference in Abuja, at the weekend, on the forthcoming fair, Abaribe said the exhibition is meant to “put confidence in locallymade products and expose policy makers to these products”.
Abaribe, who represents Abia South senatorial district in the senate, said the fair was a constituency project captured in the 2014 budget and being handled by SMEDAN and would gulp N150 million in addition to the N80 million for training and N56 million for grant to the local manufacturers.
According to him, the only way to ensure industrial revolution in the country is through the patronage of locally manufactured goods.
The fair facilitator stressed that the trade exhibition would showcase Made-in-Aba products like shoes, leathers, textiles etc; saying that “Nigerians should know those products that could be manufactured in Aba in order not to import what they could procure locally.
“It is a Federal Government programme meant to complement the efforts of the Abia State government in improving the nation’s economy through manufacturing.
“This is not a fair for selling foods, but the one to showcase the talents of local manufacturers and prove that they have the capacity to produce for Nigerians.
“Indigenous exhibitors from Aba are majorly going to be participants and the fair would help improve patronage of local products by Nigerians”, he stressed.
Abaribe added that the fair would further help in creating jobs, wealth and foreign exchange for the people and the country.
He noted that; “The people who used to reject products from China, Japan and some others in the past, now patronise them after much support by the governments of those countries for their manufacturers,” therefore solicited similar support from the federal government for Nigerian producers.
The lawmaker said though it may be difficult to compel people to patronise locally-manufactured goods through legislation, he pointed out that high tariffs could be used to protect the nation’s industries rather than outright ban on importation of goods.
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