Expert harps on need to encourage indigenization

 A member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, (NSE), Engr. Bashir Lawal, has again stressed the need for the government to encourage indigenization to boost local production and local contents in the productive sector.

 Lawal who is the Chief Executive Officer of BAL Engineering Construction Company, gave this advice while speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Sunday.

He also called on the citizens to brace up and support the government in the task of building a virile nation.

Lawal also admonished government to urgently put a stop to the importation of some foreign goods into the country by encouraging local production of goods to boost the country’s economy instead of boosting the economy of foreign countries.

The expert who acknowledged that recession as presently being experienced in the country is a blessing to Nigerians also encouraged the government to boost agriculture which he said is pivotal to infrastructural development.

 According to him, when the demand for foreign goods reduces, the demand in dollars would also be reduced and the value of the Naira will shore up.

 He however challenged graduates of engineering who are unemployed to buy tools and develop themselves, calling on the people in general to link with the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM) for mechanized farming.

Engr. Lawal also called on those in the Ivory Towers to go into research and those in the banking sectors not just to be profit oriented alone but invest more into the economy.

On the ongoing split underpass project at Geri Alimi roundabout in Ilorin, the state capital, he said the project is necessary due to the volume of traffic experienced and the population growth and proximity of the Ilorin International Airport to the area.

While thanking the state government for patronizing indigenous contractors in the state, he said more employment would be generated as indigenous contractors are employed at the site.