Nigeria’s Industrial Revolution Is Beckoning—And NASENI is Leading The Rethinking
The campaign to shift Nigeria’s consumption patterns toward homegrown manufacturing has found a new stage: the National Assembly, particularly the Senate. Earlier this week, a bill proposing that government ministries, departments, and agencies must give procurement priority to vehicles made in Nigeria passed second reading at the Red Chamber. It is a legislative nod to a broader ambition that emphasises industrial self-reliance in a country that has been long dependent on imports for even the most basic manufactured goods.
At the centre of this push is NASENI, the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure. Over the past five months, the agency has mounted an advocacy campaign, using its Made-in-Nigeria Strategic Focus Group Meetings to spotlight its own line of locally assembled vehicles. Its argument is simple: Nigerian manufacturing can match foreign alternatives, not only in cost but increasingly in quality and reliability.
For now, the conversation is gaining traction. A legislative framework, if passed, would mark a significant institutional shift—one that aligns policy with the rhetoric of economic diversification. The agency’s growing visibility is also instructive: in a country where industrial policy has too often been inert, NASENI appears to be forcing a rethink.
– Theresa Tekenah
