Create Law To Enforce Nigeria First Policy, End Import Dependence — Economist

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the federal government to enact comprehensive legislation to give full legal backing to the proposed Nigeria First Policy, which aims to institutionalise local content, domestic production, and economic self-reliance across all sectors of the economy.

The CPPE chief executive, Dr Muda Yusuf, who made this call, described the proposed framework as a bold strategic initiative designed to reposition the Nigerian economy on a path of self-sufficiency by prioritising Nigerian goods, services, labour, and enterprises in both public and private procurement and investment decisions.

According to Yusuf, the Nigeria First Policy seeks to move beyond mere executive orders and policy pronouncements by creating an enforceable, incentive-driven, and legally backed system that will embed economic nationalism into the country’s development architecture.

“Nigeria has experienced similar policy interventions in the past, including executive orders promoting local procurement and domestic participation. While these interventions demonstrated good intent, their impact was limited by weak enforcement mechanisms, poor institutional coordination, lack of legislative backing, and policy inconsistency.”

The latest policy he noted “seeks to overcome these past shortcomings through a structured, enforceable, incentive-driven and legally backed framework that will institutionalize local content and domestic value creation as national economic priorities.

He said the policy, if implemented through legislation, would ensure consistency, accountability, and sustainability, while addressing the country’s persistent structural vulnerabilities such as import dependence, weak local production capacity, and foreign exchange instability.

Describing the policy as a national economic security agenda, Dr Muda said its implementation offers transformative opportunities for inclusive growth and structural transformation across multiple fronts, including economic security and stability, job creation and human capital development, industrial linkages, and value chain development.

Calling for a Nigeria First Policy Act that codifies the principles of local content, procurement preference, and domestic participation, Muda noted that to translate the Nigeria First Policy from strategy into impact, a robust implementation architecture is required, adding that it should be built on the pillars of strategic procurement policy, fiscal and monetary incentives, legislative backing, institutional capacity and oversight as well as private sector partnership.

He pointed out that reducing reliance on imports will not only stabilise the macroeconomic environment but also shield the economy from global disruptions such as pandemics, geopolitical conflicts, or supply chain breakdowns.

Yusuf further outlined how expanding local content in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, services, and extractives could generate millions of jobs, empower small businesses, and foster inclusive growth.

He noted that the failure of past policies stemmed from weak enforcement mechanisms, institutional overlap, and policy inconsistency, adding that the new framework would include measurable compliance obligations and penalties for non-compliance.

Under the proposed implementation plan, CPPE recommended the creation of a Nigeria First Policy Implementation and Monitoring Agency, which would enforce compliance across Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), track performance, and publish annual scorecards to ensure transparency and accountability.

It also proposed the integration of local preference clauses into all public procurement and investment promotion frameworks, along with targeted fiscal incentives such as tax reliefs, credit support, and tariff protection to enhance the competitiveness of Nigerian producers.

Yusuf emphasised that the initiative’s success will depend on strong political will, public–private collaboration, and coordinated action across all government tiers.