Economist and management expert, Prof. Pat Utomi, has called for a focused linkage between agriculture and manufacturing as a sure-fire recipe for job creation and wiping out the scourge of unemployment currently ravaging the country.

The main issue in Nigeria for now, according to Utomi, is harnessing the potentials of agriculture and its synergy with manufacturing to derive multiplier effects in creating jobs as well as enhancing productivity.

Utomi made the call Friday in Lagos at the presentation of a new product, Al Grain instant noodle, manufactured and marketed by an indigenous green field manufacturing outfit, Al Grain Foods Limited. He called for support and encouragement for Nigerian entrepreneurs who are willing to brave the vagaries of the economy to venture into manufacturing.

While charging Nigerians on the need to be industrious, Utomi observed that through the perseverance of some individuals, the nation’s entertainment sector had begun to contribute significantly to the nation’s GDP as revealed in the just concluded GDP rebasing. “When nobody thought anything of Nollywood, I kept stressing on the importance of selling culture, arguing that the future of Nigeria and the greater competitive advantage was in selling culture. Today, I’m fortunate to be vindicated,” he stated.

Utomi argued that since the country was blessed with a huge population, which gives it the much needed demographic advantage to drive its economic growth, all that was needed to realise the potential would be to educate the people. He stressed that the bigger future of the country lies in its ability to harness its potential in agriculture and manufacturing – the two sectors which, he noted, are capable of employing millions of Nigerians.

In his speech, Chairman of Al Grain Foods Limited, Mr. Anthony Obidulu, decried the challenges in the operating environment posed by policy fluctuations and infrastructure deficits. He said the use of generators for production “is not cost effective at all.”

Noting that these factors did not deter him from his entrepreneurial vision of contributing to Nigeria’s development, Obidulu added: “We therefore urge the government to encourage manufacturers and industrialists in the country by stabilising economic policies because the fluctuation in these policies poses a big problem to the Nigerian economy and it also discourages foreign investors.”

Obidulu stated that Al Grain is a noodle brand produced to the highest hygienic standards using Global Best Manufacturing practice standards. Al Grain comes in two flavours of chicken & m-shrimp and beef. Al Grain noodles offers rich and healthy nutrition with unique African flavour. The Al Grain initiative would complement the efforts of government in developing local content in the food industry especially with its great investment in manufacturing and entrepreneurship.

Al Grain is positioned as noodles for the health conscious because of its formulation and extensive use of natural ingredients. It comes in two flavours and two packs.

•Photo shows Prof. Utomi.

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