Inaugurating the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, Nigeria’s Minister of Science and Technology Ogbonnaya Onu, Onu urged Nigerians to take advantage of the low cost of labour and invest in the leather industry.
The minister said that all efforts would be made to ensure effective implementation of the policy since past efforts at industrialisation had failed because the first things were not done first.
A statement issued by Head of Public Relations at the ministry, Mr. AbdulGaniyu Aminu, noted that the minister stated that the widely acclaimed Moroccan leather products were actually sourced from Nigeria.
According to the minister, the leather industry is very critical to national growth and development because it will boost Gross Domestic Product and increase Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.
The minister noted that the policy will solve most of the problems hindering the growth of the leather sector and enable Nigeria to produce shoes, belts and other leather products similar to what obtains in developed countries of the world.
The committee, the statement noted, is expected to set up a working plan and budget for the effective implementation exercise of the policy within two months.
It added that the committee is expected to coordinate and monitor the optimal implementation of the policy in conjunction with the relevant stakeholders and conduct validation and sensitisation workshops for stakeholders in six geographical zones in order to review the draft implementation framework.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the committee and the Director-General of Nigerian Institute of Leather, Science and Technology, Dr. Eucharia Oparah, noted that the leather industry has a lot of potential that are yet to be harnessed.