Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday test-drove the Hyundai electric car assembled in Nigeria describing it as “a good drive and fantastic.”
This was at the Nigeria@60 Expo of 100% Made in Nigeria Goods and Services, which opened at the Eagle Square, Abuja, to showcase what goods and services Nigeria can produce with locally-sourced materials and expertise.
The event will also feature display of the beauty and strength in Nigeria’s diversity by cultural troupes from various parts of the country that will perform during the days of the exhibition.
Organized by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Nigeria@60 in collaboration with Business Visa and Training Nigeria Ltd, the five-day exhibition is in continuation of the year-long celebration of Nigeria’s 60th independence which began on October 1, 2020.
President Muhammadu Buhari had directed that the celebration of Nigeria’s 60th independence anniversary should continue after the landmark event was celebrated last year.
“It just shows what is possible and I’m glad to see that this is a Nigerian-assembled electric car, and you can literally charge it anywhere,” Osinbajo stated after driving the car around the venue of the exhibition.
He added: “I think it is a very, very fantastic innovation and fantastic product and I can tell you because I drove it.”
Showcasing Nigeria’s wealth
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who delivered the keynote address at the event, said that the exhibition is the culmination of series of activities that have been going on to complement the efforts of the Nigerian government “at ensuring that we produce what we eat and eat what we produce.”
Mustapha said: “Nigeria, as a country, is blessed with abundant human and material resources; it is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources, including huge oil and gas resources; untapped solid minerals and large uncultivated arable land.
“It is Africa’s largest economy and 25th globally with a GDP of $410billion.”
Mustapha said that there was need to harness these potentials and convert them to reality in order not to only move Nigeria up in economic advancement but also to provide jobs for the population.
According to Mustapha, the cultural display by the cultural troupes “will re-emphasize the communality that runs through the country and should always serve as rallying points for us all rather than the present discord being contrived to distract us from the path of development.”
Supporting MSMEs
Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who delivered a virtual goodwill message at the exhibition, noted that 9% of Nigeria’s 41million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs, are into manufacturing.
She added that two thirds of these manufacturing small businesses are owned by women, pointing out that, as in most countries, the MSMEs create the greater part of jobs, employing 86% of the Nigerian workforce and accounting for nearly half of the GDP before the Covid-19 pandemic.
Okonjo-Iweala noted that more needed to be done in the area of trade to ensure that MSMEs, which accounts for only 7% of export, contribute more to exports and foreign exchange earnings.
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo said that the exhibition was a small example of goods produced by Nigerian entrepreneurs, which 100% were made in Nigeria by MSMEs.
“It will depict the ingenuity and industry of our young and indigenous entrepreneurs”, the minister stated.
Members of the Diplomatic Corps and business people from different parts of Nigeria and abroad attended the event.
Nneka Ukachukwu
