In readiness for the tough time President Muhammadu Buhari has forewarned Nigerians about, women have been urged to drop the long-held habit of impulsive buying.
Moreover, they should also seek ways to contribute more to family income by acquiring and using skills to enable them cushion the negative impact of the looming hard times on their families.
To help them in this regard, the Lagos State Commissioner of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Hon. Lola Akande, told Sunday Sun reporter of the readiness of the government to train willing women at the any of the 20 skills acquisition centre located in the 5 zones of the state.
She explained: “For those who have paid jobs already, I think nothing stops them from acquiring one skill or the other because if you are at home and you’re able to produce your soap yourself and you are able to make your hair cream yourself, does that not reduce the cost of running your home? The skill acquisition centres are in the five divisions. We have about 20. I don’t know why people will not avail themselves of the opportunity. We have about 18 courses that are taught in different centres. They can come here to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation first, to see any of the directors. They will give them the forms and direct them where to go. The training is free. So I don’t know why people are not availing themselves of such opportunities. Women should go to the centres, learn one skill or the other. And for those who want to sell what they produce, the price is even cheaper than the ones imported from overseas. Let me tell you, that is what I use in my house. The liquid soaps they make in the centres are the ones I use in my house. I have a woman who produces it for me. She knows when to supply to me. It cleans my bathtub and my toilet and it is cheaper. And it is as good as the imported ones. Let’s patronize our own.”
Regarding the issues of impulsive buying habit, Akande noted that the practice had made many women to accumulate unnecessary debts, and oftentimes caused them to use housekeeping funds to pay off the debts.
Her words: “You see, if I would advise anybody, like I tell myself too, this is not the time to just buy on impulse. You know women buy on impulse. They like clothes, jewelries shoes and handbags. For now, all those things must stop if you don’t want to be in serious debt. If before when you put your bowl of soup on the table, you had 10 pieces of meat in it, you have to reduce it to be able to wade through the difficult times. It’s just about cutting your coat according to your fabric. like clothes, jewelries shoes and
“If you have N100, you have to prioritize whatever you want and do the important ones first. So if it is buying Brazilian hair that is more important to you, then buy it rather than feeding the children in your home. Then wait and see if your husband will not quarrel with you if you use the money for housekeeping to buy Brazilian hair, when you know the money for Brazilian hair is not included in the household money.”
Akande assured that women who successfully complete the training would be assisted to become entrepreneurs and be able to cater for themselves.
Speaking in the same vein, on the phone, when contacted by a Sunday Sun reporter, Professor Awe Abel Ariyo, a professor of Economics at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti, opined that Nigerians should try and avoid unnecessary consumption. He decried the unhealthy practice of Nigerians to prefer foreign goods to locally made ones, and said everyone should begin to look inwards.
“At the micro level, we should try and avoid unnecessary consumption. Let’s limit our consumption to what we can produce locally. Our propensity for foreign goods is too high. Let’s look inwards and let everyone try as much as possible to be productive. Farming is the best way to go now. Evidence has shown that 60-70 percent of our economy depends on food items. We should embrace agriculture at our micro level, even if it is just for our personal consumption. That would reduce our expenditure on food items. Imagine an ordinary Nigerian driving up to four cars. In the university, I see young lecturers driving two to three cars. As the president of our cooperative society in the university, I tell people to be moderate in their consumption,” the university don said.
He also implored the government to create the right environment for people to be productive, stressing that the government should the vital issue of power, so that artisans can work at ease.
“Many artisans have abandoned their work due to poor energy generation. That would help small scale enterprises to engage in more productive work. It is not just about the government creating 500,000 jobs because that would be infinitesimal compared to the number of jobless people roaming the streets,” Prof Ariyo said.
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