The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has asked Nigerians to patronize goods and services made in the country to reduce import dependency and shore up the value of the Naira about other major currencies......See Full Story>>.....See Full Story>>
The foremost Yoruba monarch spoke when he played host to former Head of State, Gen Abdusalami Abubakar, (RTD) Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, and Gen Martin Luther Agwai (RTD) at the Ojaja Park in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The monarch said the development of the country and the housing deficit should not be left in the hands of the government alone, as everybody must join hands for the development of the economy.
According to him, “Nigeria has housing deficits in the country but we need to make do with what we have to get results. We need to buy Nigeria, we need to produce in Nigeria, including our housing needs.”
The monarch said “Our project here is a city on its own. It is 100,000 square meters, and we are trying to showcase what is possible in Nigeria. Practically, everything you see here, we know where it came from in Nigeria.
“So, our mantra is at least 90 percent of things that are made in Nigeria will be used because a lot of people probably think we do things that are of inferior quality. No, it is not true and today is the official showcasing of Ojaja City to the world.
“And the official showcasing is to let everybody that matters in this country know that whenever there is a will, there is a way.
“A lot of good things can happen in our country and if we believe in ourselves, like this typical project, if we believe that Nigeria and Nigerians can do it, then our deficit of housing will continue to reduce gradually.
“Here is an integrated city that you don’t even need to go out. We have everything here; we have a five-star hotel here, a game center, a children’s park, we have a shopping mall, we have a park, we have school, we have residential estates.
“So for us, it is just to model something that has never been done in Nigeria. A lot of people are always very skeptical of our products, that homemade goods, Nigerian made products are not good but we are not skeptical. We went all the way. Everything you are seeing here, we know the manufacturer.
“This is the only way we can grow the economy. We don’t need to leave the government to do everything and this is why I invited General Abdusalam Abubakar and Bishop Mathew Kukah to come and bless this place, because they believe in peace, and they believe in youth engagement, because for us here, it is all about youth engagement and I believe Nigeria will be a better place.”
The monarch said several youths would be engaged in the day-to-day running of the activities of the park.
He said the empowerment of youth and the development of the land were his targets when he embarked on the project.