Foremost Industrialist Okoya Clocks 84, Advises FG on Economy

The Chairman of Eleganza Group of Companies, Rasaki Okoya, has said that a ban on importation will raise the country’s Gross Domestic Product and stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange.

The industrialist, who turns 84 today, urged the President Bola Tinubu-led government to work towards promoting commerce and industry.

A statement from the family on Thursday noted that as the businessman turned 84, he talked about how the government could make the youth productive through an enabling environment.

“As said in my previous interviews, it took me 60 years to build the Eleganza conglomerate through dint of hard work. Nigerian youths are hard-working and resilient. If they can embrace hard work more and more, they will be successful because they have what it takes with an enabling environment,” Okoya said.

“Consistency, perseverance, hard work commitment, passion and integrity are the only vehicles that can drive you to success and not by cutting corners.”

Okoya said, “My hope is that the current administration makes the industrialisation of Nigeria a cardinal goal, utilising our youths and empowering increased incorporation of manufacturing through the establishment of many cottage industries and factories during their term.

“Our youth have potential and can be stronger with greater empowerment. If you open the eyes of a blind man, he will never want to go back to the darkness. I think to myself regularly on how do we utilise our dominant working population.”

He urged the Federal Government to prioritise local manufacturing by protecting local industries, saying this could be achieved by “imposing strict prohibitions on imports and policing the markets to enforce the ban on importation. With these, I believe we can conserve our precious foreign exchange, increase GDP, and strengthen our local markets/producers.”

He also maintained that the utilisation of renewable energy would ensure longevity and create backups to the national grid power supply, adding that government must incorporate training “to pre-empt and prevent environmental degradation, learning from the case of China.”

“This will provide practical experience that would give our youth a strong sense of belonging, and a promise of hope. It is our duty as Nigerian seniors, to help our youth the truth to know,” he said.

Lauding the President and advising him to promote commerce, Okoya added: “Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a visionary leader who is passionate about Nigeria. I am sure this administration will promote commerce and industry. I pray for the President and Vice President, Kashim Shettima, with the aid of Allah SWT, to consider this and include it in their good programme as a blueprint for the rebirth of our great nation.”

It is not the first time that Okoya would be making an intervention in the running of the economy.

In November, the industrialist called for the creation of new industrial zones in the 36 states of the federation as part of measures to boost the country’s human capacity and economy.

He made the call during an interaction with journalists at the Lagos International Trade Fair at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Onikan, Lagos.

He suggested that small-scale industries should have residential accommodation for workers, noting that such a strategy would stem rural-urban migration and reduce congestion in cities.

He said, “The picture on my mind places all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory as industrial hubs, varying in specialty where an average Nigerian citizen should be able to live, work, shop, have access to healthcare and other conveniences like recreational, worship facilities, all without leaving their state of origin, within their industrial hubs.

“We need to instill a sense of pride and dignity through respectable labour in our youth. The creation of varied and sustainable industrial cities will be pivotal in the national stimulation of progress.”

In December, Okoya and his wife, Folashade, alongside family and friends, gathered to celebrate Shade’s mother, Nimota Adeleye, on her 80th birthday.

The event, which was held in Okoya’s mansion in Lagos, was a colourful one with a lovely ambiance.

Parts of the highlights of the event were the prayers said on the birthday by the clerics present, and also by family and friends.

January 12, 2024