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As much as we can complain about the Nigerian government, we, as much, need to be realistic about ourselves as a people and as individual Nigerians. The reality that our actions and inactions as a people go a long way in determining what becomes of our beloved nation.

In all sincerity, Nigeria is a truly blessed nation as far as resources is concerned, however, her people has abandoned her numerous resources for imported finished goods…virtually everyone in Nigeria is aware of this fact. If you can recall, once upon a time, our dear Naira was higher than the US dollar and was almost at par with the British pound sterling and the reason was because Nigerians kept the faith of being productive and an export-oriented country until the discovery of crude oil and since then, we steadily grew into an import-oriented country. With the state of our economy, you could say, “for every action lies an equal reaction”.

Recently, a lot of people in power and able Nigerians have been singing the #madeinnigeria anthem on every platform possible to air this view because our dear Naira has weakened against the US dollar  and other major currencies of the world and of course, collectively, we all need to do something before a total crash of our economy, we have a chance of going back to the drawing board. Let us all go back to whom we were, history tells those times were the best. In fact, according to Moses Tule, a director with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) gave his prescription, “Be Nigerians again, buy made-in-Nigeria goods”.

Buy made in Nigeria goods? Some people retorted to this idea by screaming a big no no for reasons best explained by them, others including producers and their relatives agreed to this idea for reasons also best explained by them.

As a citizen of Nigeria who has checked and balanced this idea, I have just more than enough reasons why you and I should patronize our own and be proud of it just like the Indians.

But really, I have some important questions- In this era of global employment crisis, why should we not want to do everything possible to create a regulated and consistent market framework that will boost entrepreneurial aptitude and a viable platform for the Nigerian people to express, showcase and earn value for their creativity?

Why do we feel and see the idea of patronizing made-in-Nigeria goods as a superficial show of patriotism and not as a national partnership that can develop the kind of commerce that will make positive impact on our great nation? Do we not all have a role of contributing to our nation’s GDP?

Why do we not see that our inability and failure to patronize made-in-Nigeria goods is also a major cause in the increase of unemployment rate? And finally, why can’t we all see the big picture that comes from patronizing our own made products or products assembled in Nigeria?