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By Omodele Adigun and Henry Uche
The Lagos branch of the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) has called for the ban on imported consumer goods as well as raw materials available in the country.
They also said that, with escalating levels of poverty in the country, luxury goods should be slammed with higher import tariffs, thereby concentrating resources towards fighting poverty and building of infrastructure.
Its Chairperson, Mrs. Gertrude Akhimien, canvassed this Monday in Lagos during her welcome address at the ongoing 6th NASSI/ MSME Trade Fair . According to her, government patronage of Made-in-Nigeria products at all levels should be enforced.
“Government should establish fair minimum wage for artisanal workers especially when engaged by international corporations and large companies. This will eliminate exploitation and grow that sector towards eliminating poverty in Nigeria. This is in line with our mandate as an Association to create market access for our members’ products.
With the theme, ‘The Indispensable Role of MSME in The Quest For Nigeria’s Industrialization,’ the group said the aim of the trade fair is to create awareness for its members’ products, seek off-takers for their products and provide networking opportunities for the members.
“The strategic importance of MSMEs in the growth and development of every nation goes without saying. Sadly ineffective implementation of policies has caused a lot of MSMEs to collapse. This sector, despite its usefulness, has witnessed many challenges hindering its growth in terms of capacity building, finance , access to market, absence of infrastructure, among others.”
