The Federal Government said it had formulated policies for the post-coronavirus (COVID-19) period.
Mr Adeniyi Adebayo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, spoke in Abuja on Wednesday while giving awards to members of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), committee on Sustainable Production and Delivery of Essential Commodities during COVID-19.
Adebayo said the federal government had put up strategies to provide more support to the manufacturing and other key sectors of the economy to boost their productivity down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The EOC was responsible for monitoring the live status of transportation and delivery of essential goods during the period of interstate travel ban.
Through this, government was able to cut down on the difficulties faced by manufacturers, transporters, and distributors of essential commodities.
Adebayo commended the committee for effectively discharging its mandate, adding that based on feedbacks received during the exercise, it was imperative that Nigeria had the capacity to produce some of the products it needed.
“For the first time in our nation, we all have to come together to tackle the vulnerability that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed us to.
“As you all acknowledged, the lockdown that we instituted to curb the spread of the virus resulted in a number of casualties across board as jobs were lost and supply was disrupted.
“Our manufacturing sector continues to be our key focus as our economy continues to grow.
“From the market intelligence findings, more than ever before, we need to boost local production of key commodities required.
“Therefore, moving forward, our efforts as a response team at the ministry have been recognised.
“We have been mandated to lead the Presidential Task Force responsible to deliver increased capacity in local manufacturing,” he said.
Amb. Mariam Katagum, Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, stated that the pandemic had created a consciousness among Nigerians on the need for all stakeholders to look inward in solving the economic challenges.
“From what happened during the period, everyone was either producing facemasks or sanitisers.
“So what stops us after the pandemic to produce anything that we want to produce that we have the talent to do.
“’This period has shown us that we can achieve whatever we set out to do as a nation,” she said.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, added that the government would do all it could to ensure that the pandemic did not cripple the economy as manufacturing would be sustained.
Chairman of the EOC, Tijani Inuwa, its manager, Mr Battah Ndirpaya, and the Leader, Abimbola Olufore, also commended the ministry for the support given to the team during the assignment. (NAN)
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