…Says era of cosmetic reforms over
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Minister of State for Industry, John Enoh, yesterday, disclosed that Nigeria is on the brink of a full-scale industrial revolution.
He also declared an end to token gestures and cosmetic reforms in favour of bold and actionable strategies to drive real innovation-led economy and national prosperity.
Enoh made the declaration at the 16th National Council on Industry, Trade and Investment (NCITI), themed: Accelerating Diversification by Leveraging Industry, Trade and Investment for Shared Prosperity.
The minister said it was time for Nigeria to move away from pilot programmes or policy lip service to real work.
According to a statement yesterday by his Senior Special Adviser, Strategic Communications, Ifeoma Williams, he said: “This is no time for pilot programmes or policy lip service,” Senator Enoh declared. “We are entering an era of full-scale industrialization—where every investment, every reform, every decision must drive us toward a globally competitive, inclusive, and innovation-led economy.”
During the plenary, the minister also said: “This Council is not just another policy gathering—it is a clarion call to transform ambition into action. We stand on the edge of a new industrial dawn.”
The former lawmaker declared that “Nigeria’s economic transformation hinges squarely on the bold agenda of the Industrial Revolution Work Group (IRWG)—a cross-sectoral initiative he inaugurated in February this year.”
He described the IRWG as “a strategic engine room designed to dismantle legacy barriers, ignite real sector productivity, and position Nigeria as a continental powerhouse of value-added manufacturing.”
Enoh outlined the five foundational pillars of the IRWG, including financing and investment transformation, energy and infrastructure modernization, regulatory reforms and ease of doing business, product standards and market expansion, and human capital development and industrial innovation; emphasizing that these are no longer theoretical constructs, but real-world levers already being activated nationwide.
“Under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” the Minister unveiled a suite of transformative projects set to launch in coming months: agro-processing hubs in Kano, turning cassava into ethanol and starch while powering thousands of new jobs; textile clusters in Aba and Lagos, poised to reposition both cities as regional powerhouses for garment manufacturing and export; and a pharmaceutical production enclave in Ogun State, aimed at securing Nigeria’s medicine supply chains and drastically cutting import dependency,” the statement added.
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