Ikpeazu expresses worry over Nigerians preference for foreign goods

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has expressed worry over the attitude of Nigerians who prefer foreign foods and products to home made ones.

Ikpeazu, who made his worry known at the Government House, Umuahia, when he received Olusegun Obasanjo, executive director/CEO, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, who paid him a courtesy visit, regretted that Nigerians were still in what he described as consumption mode.

The governor said this state of affairs made Nigerians lazy and talk down on what belonged to them, but maintained that something had to be done about the attitude and behaviour of Nigerians.

The governor, who disclosed that he had not eaten rice in the last six months, said if the country spent as much as N2 billion annually on importation of rice, the best thing to do was for Nigerians to stop eating foreign rice.

Ikpeazu commended the executive director for bringing in revolution that would take Nigeria out of her present economic situation and pledged that Abia State would key into the agenda of the council.

Earlier in a presentation on achieving “zero oil in Nigeria,” Awolowo said the vision of the council was to replace oil as the major national foreign exchange earner by growing non-oil exports.

He pointed out that with the fall in oil price globally, Nigeria should rethink on its export strategies, noting that Nigeria could be the shining example for exports with Abia leading in that regard as a potential hub of African industrialisation.