An industrialist and Managing Director of Wemy Industries Limited, Mr Paul Odunaiya, has called for support for local manufacturers, saying that it is the only way to boost the Nigerian economy.

Odunaya made the statement during Wemy Industries’ 2022 Distributors’ Conference tagged, ‘Crossing the finishing line’ held on Thursday in Lagos.

According to Odunaiya, the government must emphasise local manufacturing to discourage importation and reduce pressure on the foreign exchange market.

“We want to implore the government to support us because we don’t think we are getting the support that we need. If we have the support of the government, this business and company will be a lot bigger. There will be more people patronising local businesses and less importing,” the manufacturer of diapers and health products said.

Describing how local manufacturers had managed to stay afloat despite the harsh economic environment, Odunaiya told our correspondent that it had been tough.

“Nigeria has perpetually been in an economic crisis over the last 10 years. But we have stayed ahead of the curve through discipline, hard work, sacrifice, and giving up equity in our business to get investors, going against the grain, investing early in things, and looking at the future and seeing that the exchange rate is going to be worse,” he said.

He said the country must now invest in human capital, machinery, and business so that it would be less dependent on the outside world.

“Due to the need for importation, the high demand for the exchange rate of the dollar is crippling our economy and business,” he noted.

He explained that despite the economic downturn, investments within many local industries were the key to financial stability and reduction of poverty in the country.

Odunaya further said that inflation had affected the cost of goods, meaning that the cost of goods had gone up.

“If you are manufacturing your goods, the impact is less with backward integrating and using local inputs. Although we import 80 per cent of our raw materials in the long-term, Wemy and other local industries will benefit from inflation because we are constantly reinvesting and using local skills.”

Touching on the company’s strategy for power generation, Odunaiya explained that local manufacturers like Wemy Industries had made investments in power solutions such as solar and others to mitigate the effects of poor power supply on production.