Pharmaceutical industry needs N30bn bailout, says Okoli

Pharmaceutical industry needs N30bn bailout, says Okoli

Dr. Okoli

The Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceuticals, Dr Stella Okoli, on Monday said the pharmaceutical industry was in need of urgent government intervention, as it required injection of funds in the region of N30 billion.
Okoli told newsmen at an interactive session in Lagos that injection of funds by the government would help the industry to do better and take its rightful place in the country.
The pharmacist, also member, Board of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council, said it was unfortunate that the previous administration in the country left out the pharmaceutical industry out in its bailout programme.
She, however, urged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to give the needed support in order to enable the industry to create more jobs and meet up in the area of required vaccines in the country.
“The industry must be funded so that we can buy the equipment, machinery and raw materials in the Nigerian industries,” Okoli said.
The pharmacist also called for the downward review of interest rates in order to make the industries more comfortable in the competitive market.
She appealed to the Lagos State Government to do away with multiple taxation, describing the current tax regime as “very challenging“ for those in the industry in the state.
Okoli also urged the federal government to equip its hospitals and discourage Nigerians from traveling to India for medical tourism.
According to her, the government needs to quickly set up a new national industrial policy and encourage young people who are very good in Information Technology (IT).
She said that the computer village in Lagos State could be converted into a training ground for young brains on IT-related areas to enable them to make more meaningful contributions in the country.
“Use our youths and encourage the industries that have been there, and fashion a way to continue to attract foreign direct investment – those that love Nigeria; those that come to help us and not those that have come to hurt us,” the pharmacist said.
Okoli said the Federal Government had a lot to learn from Asian countries and their use of industrial parks, urging the authorities to transform the nation’s fortunes with an industrial revolution.

About author

You might also like

Stakeholders advocate increased neurological healthcare support in Nigeria

A consortium of stakeholders, comprising medical professionals, patients advocacy groups, and non-profit organisations, has appealed to influential philanthropists and the government to prioritise neurological healthcare in Nigeria. Speaking at a

President Buhari, VP Osinbajo Receive COVID-19 Vaccines

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo today, March 6, received their first COVID-19 vaccine shot at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. They were  by their Chief Personal Physicians Dr. Suhayb

Healthcare: UNICEF rates Gombe highest in Nigeria

Mr Eframe Tafle, the Immunisation Manager, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has ranked  Gombe State highest in Nigeria in terms of quality healthcare delivery. Tafle stated this in Gombe on

0 Comments

No Comments Yet!

You can be first to comment this post!

Leave a Reply