The Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr. Kingsley Udeh has advocated the swift passage of the Raw Materials 30% Value Addition Bill.
Udeh stated that Nigeria’s long-standing pattern of exporting raw materials and importing finished goods has kept the nation “in a pact with poverty.”
He said the bill would enable Nigerians to become “architects, engineers and innovators of Africa’s industrial renaissance.”
This was disclosed in a press statement signed by the Ministry’s Head of Press, Pauline Sule.
Udeh made the remark at the National Advocacy and Sensitization Conference organised by the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), with the theme “Partnering for Implementation of the RMRDC 30% Value Addition Bill.”
The event was held in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
He said the bill is an enforceable, measurable and sector-specific engine that will drive the principles of Executive Order No. 05 into the heart of Nigeria’s economy.
According to him, “it has already contributed to the rise in the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), from 15.6% in 2013 to 25.2% in 2023, though he stressed that the progress remains insufficient, hence the push for its passage.”
The Minister emphasised that the bill aims to retain value within Nigeria’s borders, stimulate domestic processing through local ingenuity, and create industrial and high-skilled jobs for young people, thereby reducing poverty significantly.
Dr. Udeh called on legislators, the private sector, researchers and the academia to work diligently to ensure the bill’s passage, adding that effective implementation would improve the standard of living across the country.
The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Philip Ndiomu, said the Raw Materials Research and Development Council’s Value Addition Bill would transform the nation’s industrial and economic development for the benefit of citizens, pledging the Ministry’s full support for its implementation.
Also speaking, the Director-General of RMRDC, Prof. Nnanyelugo Ike Muonso, said the bill rests on two pillars, export constraints and import prohibition which he described as the bedrock of Nigeria’s future industrialisation and catalysts for transforming the economy from resource-based to knowledge-based.