Prof. Adesoji Adesugba, Managing Director of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, has reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to ensuring that eligible Nigerians are gainfully employed across the country.
Adesugba stated that one of the strategies put in place to achieve this was the establishment of 43 Free Trade Zones across the country.
He went on to say that the trade zones would create jobs and lessen youth unrest in Nigeria, ensuring that the younger generations contribute meaningfully to nation building.
Adesugba made the pledge while addressing at the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce’s breakfast session titled “Non-Oil Exports: Situation Report and Way Forward.”
“The free trade zone as well as special economic zones provide the panacea to reinvigorate the non-oil sector in the face of dwindling and unstable revenue from oil, rising demand from foreign exchange, insecurity, external debt, etc,” Adesugba who was represented by an Assistant Director in the agency, Mr Augustine Onyekwelu, said
According to him, in these trying times of youth restiveness, the free trade zone is a veritable tool to tackle the problem of unemployment in addition to improving exports of non-oil products.
On her part, President of the Chamber, Dame Adebola Williams, raised concerns on the over-dependence on crude oil exports by Nigeria.