Buy Made in Nigerian Products as Dollar Hike – Is it Buhari Agenda for National Development?

Buy Made in Nigerian Products as Dollar Hike – Is it Buhari Agenda for National Development?

By 

Musa Abdullahi Sufi, Kano, Nigeria

Yesterday Saturday 20th February 2015, within 4 hours of a day I encountered  the following;

1.     The fish seller claiming increase in price of fish he is selling was due to increase in dollar against Naira exchange rate even though he caught it from the pond free

2.     Mechanic who repaired my car charge me high and relate it with same reason like fish seller

3.     Participated in the discussions with some brilliant and intelligent guys. Some believed Buhari is a good choice but quack cabinet members, blaming Buhari for giving Fashola 3 ministries to handle. And others didn’t vote for Buhari because the knew Nigerians will suffer paying tax and militarization of government etc.

4.     In another group discussion, the people including gatemen are abusing Buhari for allowing dollar to go much higher against Naira and causing economic suffering for the populace

5.     I noticed that many people assumed that Buhari is operating devaluation of Nigerian currency.

Is Dollar rising against Naira, a beneficial opportunity for the Nigerian  Economy?

In view of the above statement, I decided to go back to my elementary economics texts and was able to generates some of the following highlights

1.     If dollar is high than naira in exchange market then dollar will be scarce both in black and lawful market, thus less use of dollar in the economy

2.     High Dollar against Naira  our business men and women buying every little thing from abroad will be buying  locally

3.     The Local market products will rapidly keeps increasing as buyers focus to long neglected local products

4.     Already, local business made in Nigerian products in Aba, Lagos and Kano for example is booming  by the hour  and employment created automatically

5.     It seems today buying products abroad will leads the business owner  to bankruptcy as customers cant afford the price of imported goods purchased in dollars. The value to get and use naira  by business men and women is increasing  thus, more value to Naira

6.      

7.     The medical tourism is going down because the price is tripled for curing of minor headache and other serious ailment by the bourgeois

8.     Pursuing foreign education will be at it lowest soon due to cost

9.     More business women will benefits from this change due as some internationally dominants products that destroy local business like the coming Brazilian hair to locally more braiding of hair that employ thousand of local women

10. The market of made in Nigeria products is practically moving. I bought N3000 jeans and school bag N200 few days ago respectively.

11. Made in Nigeria products are now sighted on display and buys everywhere

12. The wide gap between the rich and the poor could be virtually bridge due to simplifying life through developing local economy and creating jobs that leads to more income earners.

Finally, as dollars upsurge against Naira, Nigerians will automatically stop buying from abroad and the investors will find their way to Nigeria with their dollars because Nigeria have the market.  With their investment Nigeria will profited from employment created, tax generated, market and cheap products as locally made. 

Consequently, in a near future if the planned strategies that are partially made known to Nigerians work; our employment, education, health and all other institutions will receive attention much more at the moment. But this is only possible if  ‘We’ Nigerians realizes that ‘We’ can only be great if we value what we have!

Obama recently said “ Hoping your President fails is the same as hoping your country fails, and its NOT patriotism. PATRIOTISM is supporting your Commander-in-Chief, even if you don’t agree with him on everything”

Musa Abdullahi Sufi

Medical and Development Geographer

Kano, Nigeria

Exploring Real National Issues!

My thinking for Development: Dangote vs Zakkat: My Opinion by Musa A Sufi

My thinking for Development: Dangote vs Zakkat: My Opinion by Musa A Sufi

Dangote vs Zakkat: My Opinion by Musa A Sufi

Dangote vs Zakkat: My Opinion

By

Musa Abdullahi Sufi

16/02/2016

Social media this week is highly recommended in the Nigerian context on what sister Ajimot   wrote about Dangote letter about Zakkat. Some hours later another letter replying Sister ... By Abba Dantata  from  Dangote family Surfaced out. Both are great expression of status of truths and very useful to not only Muslims but non Muslims! that explore what Zakkat is all about.

However, my opinion about the Dangote Zakkat and his foundation is that yes many great initiatives are done and even on going but he (Alhaji Dangote) and his team needs to know about the under supported and less privilege persons in our communities .

They are the  people with  one (1) square meal or zero a day, children with torn clothes and moving around with no clothes during harmattan ( cold) or rainy  season. They are mostly living  with no information and or access to healthcare services  and neonatal and child mortality is rampant in this group of people.

In fact, mothers who got no economic or decision making power in the family and community  even while very sick continuously taken away during pregnancy, child birth or after delivery by death known as Maternal death. Most often dies with the baby she suffered carrying  for over 9 months with little poor diet (food) and hard work for the household to survive.

From experience with your support to women in Kano during former State Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso resulted to thousands of  women with  poorly business to boost beyond expectations. Similarly,  In similar program  implemented by development partners in some state though on health but using empowerment to improve health.

In this program,  women that were supported  found to be highly health seeking families and supporting the husbands. In fact, marriages stop  broken by over 70℅ and  conflicts between couples dropped by over 90% in the supported communities. Such areas needs support to improve status of many less privilege household.

Some  women during the  project selected from the most poor and voiceless but they turned out to be the best in the group after few months.  In such communities today, individuals and groups are working together to support those who are under supported. Others needs to benefit from Dangote initiatives too.

My call to Dangote and alike  is to deploy experts or build on previous or existing development programs to get  easy access  to support such group of individuals that at times I called them the invisible  members of the society. Such groups are not involved when organizations or government come to support because they are mostly poor, rejected and forgotten due to their status in the society.

Never forget to mention how drug abuse today is rapidly changing the future of present generation more especially younger ones and married women. This area needs urgent attention as it is  t where present  due to  community neglect and poverty among the populace more especially here in the north.

Orphans, widows and divorced mothers  known to be  the victims of rape, trafficking , drug abuse among others mainly because they lack economic power to be secure and independent ( many of then )

It is also proved that poverty is not the only  factor why people find themselves in need of help but some are only requiring moral support through various approaches and strategies to overcome their status of being under supported. . 

While I appreciate Dangote foundation support in many  areas  but his  Zakkat and other initiatives  needs to target the forgotten, absolute poor, broken, third class citizens in our society. If this is taken care then Alhamdulillah but there is needs to spread more on that.

Finally, ,  Dangote, the time to do support them is  actually now. Mentoring, monitoring, coaching and  supportive supervision and the  use of data as evidence to inform initiatives direction, scale up and buys in is  equally vital and necessary to ensure effective project implementation and resources use in an ACCOUNTABLE manner.

Best Wishes

Musa Abdullahi Sufi.

Kano, Nigeria 

From the midst of people who are poorly supported