“We Will Take Drastic Decisions That Will Shape Nigeria’s Economy for Good” - Dr. Doris Uzoka Anite, Minister for Investment, Trade and Industry

Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment says that the ministry is on the workout into taking long-term measures that will help boost the nation's economy by working closely with both the Federal Government, State Government, and other commissions that will help the ministry arrive at the goal of boosting investment, trade, and the creation of new businesses.

The Minister said that the Ministry of Trade and Investment had talks with big firms over the week and is making plans that will be beneficial for Nigerians. If these policies are rolled out, Dr Doris believes that it will also boost trade both from small to medium and large scale.

She made this announcement after the Federal Executive Council Meeting (FEC) held at the Presidential Villa—the meeting was chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

In her briefing, she made it known that heads of firms under the commission's supervision have made submissions of their work and policy documents and they will put it into work-in-action that will affect all areas of the nation's economy within a short time.

Also, she admonished Nigerians to be patient with the administration which she said has made out plans to strengthen the ties of trade with other countries that will help boost the nation's economy. 

Her statement,

• I have received a briefing from the agencies under my ministry and I have ordered them to get to work by putting their plans into action. Any moment from now, Nigerians will feel the ripple effect of our policies as it would touch every sector of the economy. Farmers, traders, manufacturers, and exporters among others will receive a major boost soon. 

• We are working round the clock to ensure Nigerians do business without hassle. We are also breeding more SMEs and business owners within the teeming youth demography to encourage more startups.”

• To promote trade in Nigeria, we need to set an enabling environment with the right policies protecting local production to enable self self-sufficiency, reduction of importation, and promotion of exportation which will in turn drive more Forex into the economy. 

• We want to transition from an oil-dependent nation and consuming economy to a producing economy. We will declare a state of emergency anywhere we need to do so to ensure speedy intervention. 

• We need to create more industry and the only way to create that is to give incentives and more support to existing companies facing hardship. In a bid to attract other investments, we need to sustain the existing ones and make sure they don’t fold up and lay off staff adding to the unemployment rate. 

• We will roll out palliatives to business owners, entrepreneurs, and other employers of Labour. We will also project Nigeria as an investment hub for intending investors with our participation at the United Nations General Assembly UNGA in New York and the G20 Summit in India.

She assured the good people of Nigeria that all hands were on deck to make sure the goal of the commission under her watch was achieved. She also said that there would be no mercy for anyone trying to render the effort useless.