Former President Goodluck Jonathan has urged the Federal Government to make local manufacturing a priority, warning that Nigeria cannot create enough jobs for its growing population without expanding its industrial base.
Jonathan said Nigeria must move beyond dependence on imported goods and develop the factories, technical skills and technological capacity needed to turn its large population into a productive workforce.
He spoke in Abuja during the unveiling of a tricycle manufacturing factory operated by Zeetin Engineering Company, where he commended the company’s investment in domestic production.
“With a population of over 200 million people, and young people above 65 per cent of the population, it is a huge number. So we must convert the country into a factory,” he said.
The former president argued that industrial growth required more than access to cheap labour, pointing to the importance of skilled workers, technical education and innovation in building successful manufacturing economies such as China.
According to him, Nigeria must invest in science, technology and the development of skilled professionals if it hopes to compete in an increasingly technology-driven global economy.
Jonathan also recalled the Presidential Scholarship for Innovation and Development programme introduced under his administration to develop expertise in scientific and technological fields. He expressed
regret that the initiative was discontinued after he left office, stressing the need for continuity in policies designed to build local technical capacity.
The call for industrial expansion was reinforced by Robert Azibaola, founder of Zeetin Engineering, who said Nigeria needed to direct more investment towards manufacturing machinery, industrial components and other products that could be produced locally.
Azibaola argued that spending on imported luxury goods does little to build domestic productive capacity, unlike investments in factories that create jobs and develop technical expertise.
“If you keep buying private jets from foreign countries, all you are doing is empowering those countries,” he said. “But if you establish a plant that produces a propeller engine in Nigeria, you are going to empower a lot of people.”
He identified metal processing and casting as essential to industrial development, noting that locally processed metals could support the production of engines, machinery and components for different industries.
Azibaola also urged Nigerian entrepreneurs to invest more capital in productive businesses at home, arguing that sectors such as banking and telecommunications could not provide employment on the scale required without stronger manufacturing industries.
Both speakers stressed the importance of building domestic production capacity, with Jonathan emphasising government investment in skills and technology, while Azibaola called for greater private-sector commitment to industrial manufacturing.
