By Seun
The house of representatives yesterday adopted a motion to put an end to the importation of uniforms for military and paramilitary officers in the country.
The motion was sponsored by Hon Prestige Ossy from the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Abia. He laments the dependence on foreign markets for almost everything used in Nigeria. He disclosed that N4.3 billion was spent on the items in 2016, when converted to dollars at the current rate of N305, amounted to $14.1 million while the N1.6 billion earmarked in the 2015 budget at the bench mark rate of N197 per dollar amounted to $8.1 million.
He stated that such uniforms and other items which includes berets, foot wares, belts, cardigans, branded stockings could be purchased locally and procured from domestic market at lesser prices. He continued by stating that if such items are manufactured locally, it will boost the productivity of local manufacturing factories since they would produce more apparels for the sub regional market thereby boosting the economy by way of foreign exchange.