National President, Association of Tourist Boat Operators and Water Transport in Nigeria (ATBOWTON), Mr Ganiyu Balogun, on Monday called on the Federal Government to train Nigerians interested in boat building.
Balogun told newsmen in Lagos that this would encourage the use of made-in-Nigeria products and minimise unemployment especially among youths in the country.
He said that there were very few people who could build boats in Nigeria because nobody reckoned with them and there were no enabling environments for them to operate from.
The president said that he had tried to train people on boat building several times in the past without success.
“ As a boat operator, I also build boats which I use to transport cars from one end of the waterways to the other.
“ The only foreign spare parts in my hand-made-boats are the engines that enable them to move because Nigeria has not been able to fabricate boat engines.
“ We can get other materials needed to build boats in the country except the engines.
“ When the government buys into this, we can use boats built by us and export them for sale outside the country.
“ Most of the boats used in the country at present are imported from China and America; these people are not better or stronger than us.’’
Balogun said that if this could be achieved, crime rate and unemployment would be reduced to the minimum.
This would give opportunity to Nigerians to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods and also for export.
Discussion about this post