Patronizing Nigerian made products

 With the present global economy situation, many countries are looking for ways to strengthen their economy. The Federal Government is appealing to us to patronize Nigerian made goods. As a true Nigerian, who wants her country to move forward,  I agree with the Federal Government but the problem is we have little products to choose from, and there is no adequate infrastructure and financial support given to those who want to produce, so they end up cutting corners here and there.  If there is a way to encourage producers financially, and ensure basic infrastructures are provided, more products will be produced. Using my own field as an example, whenever I want to shoot a film, I will start looking for a noiseless location, which is very hard to get because every house has a generator. At the end of a shoot ,you spend more money working on the audio of your film. For others,  the materials for their work are not readily available? for example in my village, the number of palm oil press station is limited that villagers will decide to do it their own way. I do not want to dwell much on what we don't have but on what we have and how we can help our economy.

The question is what do we have? I am going to dwell on hair care products because a lot of women spend thousands on imported hair product as long as the label reads "HAIR GROW FAST". I  have decided to start using the raw Shea butter instead of foreign products that contain Shea butter. And the truth is this "Ori" as it is widely known here in Nigeria is very good for the skin and hair. also I decided to save money in purchase of coconut oil when I can prepare enough for me and my girls in my kitchen. For shampoo and conditioner, I don't think I have seen a shampoo labelled made in Nigeria, but we have the local soaps, I remember when my mum used to buy those local soaps for us to bath with and Stella pomade as body cream.  Those local soaps has the ability to eliminate ringworm and eczema from the body than this anti-fungal creams.
I know we still have more products just look around you.

My next question is how can we help our economy?
We need to improve on the quality products, for example, no matter how much I try, the smell of Damatol hair cream does not encourage me to use it. If the fragrance could be improved, am sure people will go for it more. Damatol is good for skin and hair care.
Many people say that Shea butter darkens the skin, well if we can find a way of adding lime to it, those of us who want to be lighter in color will see the awesome power of lime.
Marketing is another thing, If you are proud of your product make noise about it, please do not use mega phone and attach it to your car and contribute to the generator noise.
For people like my mum who are unknown Entrepreneurs, The Local Government should think of a way to help them.
Again we also need encouragement, when you want to buy a product in the market and you realize that it is made in Aba, do not expect them to sell below cost price, because at the long run they will cut corners to meet up.

How do you think we can strengthen our economy?
Keep pondering!
Adanna.