By Yinka Kolawole

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has charged the federal government to come up with an industrial policy to guide the nation’s approach to industrialisation.

Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, gave the charge at a forum to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th Independence anniversary with the theme, ‘Nigeria’s challenging economy: Strategies for recovery’.

According to him, there is a need for an industrial policy to guide the government’s approach to industrialisation with a view to promoting better coordination between key government ministries such as the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment; Ministry of Finance; and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

He stated: “I must say that policy coordination is extremely important for us because you can’t operate in such a way that you don’t know what to expect tomorrow. It will basically define where we want to be, and it will guide our operations.”

Ajayi-Kadir called for a more deliberate government policy, and a coordinated approach with clear expectations, deliverables, and accountability measures to ensure that the government and industry move in the same direction, while urging the government to avoid playing politics with economic policies.

The MAN DG said that government officials must be made to face the consequences for making bad policies that lead to economic setbacks for industries and ruin businesses.

His words: “There must be consequences for government officials who make policies that ruin businesses.

“You make a policy today, it becomes a disaster for industry and the government simply changes it, and you walk away. We don’t have this luxury in the private sector.

“If you make a mistake, your business is gone, and you could lose your property. So I think we need to see that movement also on the part of the government.”