by Ayomide Ekerin

The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed is a serious-minded man, who takes his job seriously.

At a National Media Launch on Sunday, while performing his constitutional role of informing the citizens about the plans and policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, he once again preached the gospel of the need for Nigerians to patronise made-in-Nigeria products.

According to him, the Federal Government has said it is institutionalising the patronage of locally made products starting with Ministries, Departments and agencies. He also noted that the Federal Government was taking advantage of all the digital platforms on the Internet to connect with the youths and convince them to take ownership of the “buy Made-in-Nigeria Campaign” in order to secure their future.

For a gerontocratic government that leads a country that is about 70 percent youth-strong, with less than 3 percent of them actively in governance, statements like this are like a slap on the face. What future was Oga Lai talking about? Is it the one, he, and his ilk, still hold on to? I’m not going in this direction today, no matter how I am tempted to. This piece is not about how youth are not in governance.You see, the argument of this administration about patronising made-in-Nigeria has always been the same: “Buying locally-made products will boost the economy”, “Let us encourage local manufacturers”, “We need to reduce importation.” We know that, right? Some things never change.

You see, the argument of this administration about patronising made-in-Nigeria has always been the same, “Buying locally-made products will boost the economy”, “Let us encourage local manufacturers”, “We need to reduce importation.” We know that, right? Some things never change.

However, I have not felt the same when I heard that Oga Lai told the world that our president was using made-in-Nigeria drugs in London. I couldn’t believe. No, he couldn’t have said that. That would be tantamount to him changing the rhetorics of the #BuyNaijatoGrowNaija Campaign. That would be him saying, “Buy made-in-Nigeria products, not just because it will improve our economy, but because the products are of international standards and best quality.”

Unfortunately, he can’t say that, because he doesn’t think so. You see, incidents like the Nigerian Jollof, Senegalese Jollof saga speaks volumes about what our minister thinks about things Nigeria. You may take the matter lightly, but if a man doesn’t believe in something as basic as his country’s cuisine, how can he believe his country’s drugs can heal the president?

Yes, there is a raging argument about the quality of locally manufactured products, there’s so much, the words and actions of our leaders can do to help reduce this argument to a minimum. How many of Uncle Lai’s attires are sewn from locally manufactured materials? Which locally manufactured car does he drive? How many locally manufactured cars are in the presidential fleet? No, we can’t entrust the lives of our dearest leaders to made-in-Nigeria cars, can we?

So this is how this government works: They make all the noise; do all the Atilogwu and Bata dance, without moving an inch from the spot they have been all along. However, with their #ChangeBeginsWithMe mantra, they are asking me to do a moonwalk to the ends of the earth.