Fides Media Living the Faith
By Ikeugonna Eleke
Anambra State Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo says he will use locally-made products until the end of his tenure without getting tired of it.
Soludo in an interview in Awka said the best way to promote locally-made contents was by using such, insisting that he had assumed the position of the chief marketing officer of the state.
Soludo has often stated his preference for local products and had during his swearing in last month turned up in Innoson IVM G80 mid-size luxury SUV; while his deputy, Dr Ibezim, arrived in Innoson IVM G5T mid-sized SUV as their official cars.
He said the move would support businesses and create new jobs for millions of unemployed youths, both in Anambra State and Nigeria as a whole.
He said, ‘It is not just me, it is the way the world works. You can’t get to Europe and find any government using Japanese or Chinese products.
Promoting local content and using such products is how you create wealth; how else? And if you don’t do that, how else do you promote your people’s businesses?’
Soludo said besides his car, his shoes were also made in Anambra, just as his dress was a local fabric from Abia State.
‘The next thing we want to do is to encourage shoemakers to proudly label their products made in Anambra, Nigeria, and not them imitating other foreign brands’ names like Gucci, Prada, and others.
‘Our people have the mentality that unless it is imported, it is of no quality. No. It is when we patronise the local businesses that we begin to appreciate what we have.
‘Can you imagine 200 million people patronising products, fabrics, shoes made here? What will happen to jobs? That would create thousands of jobs.
‘So, the made-in Anambra Agenda is integral to how the world works. We are not doing anything fundamentally different, it is just how it should be. Not only in Anambra, but it is also for Nigeria as a whole and that is how we must go about it,’ Soludo said.