Prioritise reviving Nigeria’s industrial sector, MAN DG tells FG

Segun Ajayi-Kadir, director-general of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), has asked the federal government to prioritise reviving the country’s ailing industries, rather than focusing on attracting foreign investments.

Ajayi-Kadir spoke during a panel session at the 13th anniversary lecture of the Janaury 9 Collective on Thursday.

The MAN DG emphasised the need to grow the domestic economy by supporting local companies and improving the business environment.

“When I joined MAN about 30 years ago, we had more industries than we have now,” Ajayi-Kadir said.

“We lost 732 members of the association [and] 60% of our members are closed in the north east.

“So if you revive those ones, you shouldn’t be asking for foreigners, there is nobody that will come into Nigeria and behave like Dangote did.

“I don’t know what’s in the guy’s mind — $20 billion and you are being harassed.

“So you need to treat the people here well. That’s what needs to be done. They will come in and they will come and stay. Not fly-by-night investors.”

‘TAX REFORM BILLS TO AVERT DISASTER’

Supporting the tax bills currently before the national assembly, Ajayi-Kadir said the reform aims to prevent a looming economic disaster.

He said the tax committee’s work on fiscal policy and tax reform relied on data, stressing that data drives effective policymaking.

“In Nigeria, the elites have ruptured over the most vulnerable. We need to do something to ensure that we do not tax poverty,” the director-general said.

“And I think that’s the main purpose of the reform, so that if you earn less than 800,000 in the year you don’t pay tax.

“Currently, we are taxing poverty. More than 75 percent of the tax we collect is not on our top 5 percent. That has to change.

“When people cannot eat three times a day, maybe no problem. When they can’t eat twice a day, maybe no problem. When they cannot eat more than once, or they can’t eat at all, that will be a big problem.”

Ajayi-Kadir said Nigeria needs to wake up to “determine how we dimension our reforms”.