Nigeria First Policy: A Patriot’s Dream or Another ‘Made-in-Lagos’ Fantasy?

Nigeria First Policy: A Patriot’s Dream or Another ‘Made-in-Lagos’ Fantasy?

Jerry Adesewo

Nigeria First Policy! I should have been overjoyed when I heard the announcement. Or maybe I was. “Nigeria First!”—the kind of slogan that makes you want to drape yourself in the green-white-green, buy ten more copies of Things Fall Apart, and swear off imported rice forever. Finally, our leaders are saying what we have all whispered at parties while sipping foreign wine: Let’s prioritise our own. But then reality kicked in like a Lagos danfo driver’s brake pedal. Good thinking, yes. But do we have the capacity—or more importantly, the will—to make it work?

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The Intentions: Beautiful on Paper

The Nigeria First policy, at its core, is a no-brainer. Why should we import toothpicks from China when we have forests in Ondo? Why buy Turkish tiles when Edo’s ceramic factories lie dormant? The logic is impeccable—until you remember this is Nigeria, where logic comes to die.

The government’s blueprint (assuming one exists beyond the press release) likely promises: Preferential contracts for local manufacturers, Tax breaks for homegrown businesses, Import restrictions to “encourage” domestic alternatives.

It’s the economic equivalent of a parent hiding the PlayStation to make their child read textbooks. Noble? Yes. Effective? Only if the child doesn’t have a secret iPad.

The Hypocrisy Test: Can We Walk the Talk?

Let’s conduct a simple experiment. Next time you’re in Abuja, count the number of official convoys using Nigerian-made vehicles. Go on. I’ll wait.

The truth? You would have better luck finding a humble politician. Our big men still cruise in bulletproof German SUVs, their drivers weaving through potholes that could swallow an INNOSON whole. If the Nigeria First policy were a school project, the government would be that group member who claims to have contributed but whose name you can’t find in the PowerPoint credits.

Case Study: The INNOSON Paradox

Innoson Vehicles, Nigeria’s pride, produces decent cars at competitive prices. Yet, walk into any federal ministry: it’s a Mercedes-Benz showroom. Even the Legislators—the people who passed the “Buy Nigerian” bill, arrives at the National Assembly Complex, in Toyota Land Cruisers. The message is clear: Do as we say, not as we do.

Peougeot is now owned my our own Alhaji Aliko Dangote and are churning out some of the best models of car, but now, Hyundai, Ford, Mitsubishi and their likes remain our prefered brad of cars, across government establishments.

The Capacity Question: Can We Deliver?

Here is where the dream meets our infamous Nigerian reality. It is one thing to make a declaration, it is another to make them come to live by carefuly implementing them. Without sounding immodest, even if this administration intends to be true to itself, there are myriads of other challenges to consider:

1. Power Problems

No electricity, no factories. It’s that simple. While the policy demands we “produce locally,” manufacturers spend 60% of their budgets on diesel. The Discos (distribution companies) deliver darkness more reliably than light. Until we fix power, “Made in Nigeria” will remain “Assembled in China, Stamped in Lagos.”

2. Quality Control

Nigerian products suffer from a perception crisis—often justified. From “Nollywood” generators that last three weeks to “made-in-Aba” shoes that dissolve in the rain, consumers have learned the hard way. Why buy a Nigerian fridge when you’ve been betrayed by a “Nigerian” phone charger that electrocuted your cat?

3. The Import Addiction

Our elites don’t just import cars—they import everything. From Italian marble for their parlours to Swiss watches for their wrists. The Nigeria First policy requires a cultural shift, but can a senator who summers in Dubai really preach austerity?

What Needs to Be Done (But Probably Won’t Be)

For Nigeria First to work, we’d need:

Government must be the first customer. If the presidency replaced its fleet with INNOSON, ministries would follow, and so would state goverments. But that would require our leaders to downgrade from armoured luxury to “Nigerian specs”—a sacrifice akin to asking a Lagos big boy to switch from Dom Pérignon to paraga.

Rather than subsidising consumption as we are known to have done for decades now, we must reverse the trend and begin to subsidise production, in place of consumption. Instead of handing out cash for fuel or subsidise factory electricity. Let’s fund reseacrh and development not just “empowerment” schemes that empower politicians’ pockets.

And we must complement all of these by naming and shaming hypocrites. Publish a list of officials using foreign vehicles, or drinking bottled wate shipped in from France. Let’s see who’s patriotic and who’s just plain pathetic.

Are Nigerians Ready to Buy Nigerian?

We love to chant “support local” until it’s time to actually support local. The Middle Class will happily pay double for an iPhone but haggle ruthlessly with a Nigerian tailor, while the elites prefer their children to study abroad, their clothes tailored in London, and their medical check-ups in India.

But as for the rest of us: we just want affordable quality—whether it’s from Ikorodu or Indonesia.

A Policy in Search of Patriots

The Nigeria First policy is a beautiful idea—one that could transform our economy if executed with sincerity. But sincerity is in shorter supply than stable electricity.

Until our leaders ditch their foreign toys, until our factories get reliable power, and until Nigerian products stop being punchlines, this policy risks becoming another slogan—like “Change Begins With Me” or “No Light, No Problem.”

So here’s my challenge to the government: Put your INNOSON where your mouth is. Until then, Nigeria First will remain what it’s always been—a great hashtag.

 

 

Nigeria First Policy: A Patriot’s Dream or Another ‘Made-in-Lagos’ Fantasy?