THE Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has called on Nigerian entrepreneurs and manufacturers to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) for trade expansion in their trade to other African countries.
The minister made the appeal when he received a budding entrepreneur in pencil production, Mr. Muyideen Ibrahim, in his office in Abuja.
Dr Onu also appealed to Nigerian investors to continually embark on research so as to add value to their products and access global market.
The minister further said that the various policies of the ministry were designed to enable Nigeria to look inwards and produce what it needed, thereby reducing excessive importation.
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He noted that pencil remains very important to everyone — both the young and the old — in various areas of life such as schools and offices, adding that pencil production would create job opportunities and reduce poverty to its barest minimum.
He recalled his visit to the Project Development Office (PRODA) in Enugu in 2015, saying that “I was very disturbed when I was informed that there was no single company in Nigeria producing pencil because companies producing pencils had collapsed or folded up due to lack of funds.”
Onu stated that as a minister, he thought it wise at that time that pencil should be produced in Nigeria at least for the benefit of primary and secondary schools and tertiary institutions.
Pencil, he said, was something that Nigeria should produce by itself because the raw materials needed to do that is available in the country, saying that the production of pencil would help in job creation, thereby moving Nigeria out of poverty.
He encouraged Nigerian investors to put more efforts into research and innovation to boost the nation’s economy and for trade expansion.
Earlier, the chairman of BEMIG NIG LTD, Muyideen Ibrahim, had said his products were of international standard and friendly to the environment because he used recycled newspaper as raw materials for production.
He, therefore, solicited the ministry’s support in actualising the dream of producing pencil for Nigeria’s consumption and export.
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