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In the early 2000s, Nigeria became known as the epicenter for the woodwork industries in the West African market and created millions of private-sector jobs. The boom was the result of several converging factors. Firstly, construction activities were on the rise, leading to increased demand for wood products. In addition, many of the mainstream Nigerian banks were expanding, setting up branches and offices around the country, offering project opportunities to woodwork companies and making it easier for the companies to obtain loans and manage their capital. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the federal government of Nigeria in 2004, under President Olusegun Obasanjo, introduced a new policy banning the importation of furniture into the country.

This policy was a response to stalling economic growth and to promote local production of furniture. After relying heavily on income from crude oil business between 2005 to 2015, the federal government was not prepared for the precipitous drop in oil prices in 2016. Not only has the country’s economic growth stalled, Nigeria now finds itself in deep fiscal crisis.

One of the biggest challenges affecting the economy is that it is import dependent. A number of companies that should have engaged in local production also were importing finished products for domestic projects, which, reduced gross domestic product and increased unemployment throughout the country. The effects were felt in all sectors, but the woodwork industry was one of the hardest hit. A similar dynamic played out in the textile industry in the late 1990s, when textiles manufactured in Asian countries were indiscriminately imported into Nigeria in alarming quantities, bringing the textile industry in Nigeria to its knees.

It was clear something had to be done. The government’s solution was to introduce structural reforms to keep jobs and sales within the country, with the ultimate aims of economic growth, fiscal stability, and reduced reliance on the oil business. One important aspects of the reform was the introduction of a policy that banned the importation of furnished furniture into Nigeria, mitigating the lost domestic income from this sector and giving the woodwork industry, among others, a much-needed opportunity for growth. Changes to taxes, tariffs, and interest rates were also beneficial for woodwork companies as they started to rebuild towards a stronger economic position.

The policy changes had a palpable impact within the Nigerian woodwork industry and throughout the country as a whole. The boom attracted a lot of investment capital into the country, and local investors also began to show more interest in the woodwork industry. Furniture factories were set up all over the country, most notably in Lagos state, which had the highest number of established furniture factories in the country. The rapid and significant growth in the industry created employment opportunities especially for the youths across the country.

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I was a bit disturbed last Sunday morning when I opened up one of the mainstream newspapers and reviewed an advertisement for Lorenzo by Sujimoto. For those that are not familiar with the project, Lorenzo by Sujimoto is dubbed to become the tallest residential building in Ikoyi, Lagos. According to information provided online, the building will soar 25 stories above the prestigious Bourdillon Road and will comprise of 57 luxury apartment units with each equipped with two kitchens. For an individual with an in-depth knowledge of the woodworking industry in Nigeria, I was very excited to read about this project, among others because of the apparent opportunity such a project would afford Nigerian kitchen makers to demonstrate their skills, designs and competence. A young construction company, Sujimoto Construction, taking on one of the most ambitious large scale development projects in Nigeria was remarkable.

However, I became disappointed when I learnt that the kitchens in the 57 apartments will be manufactured by Italian companies not based in Nigeria but somewhere in ltaly and imported into the country. These are Italian companies that have not invested one Naira in Nigeria. The average price for the kitchens that will be offered by the Italian companies is approximately NGN10,000,000.00 (Ten Million Naira) and each unit will be equipped with two kitchens. If you do the math, Sujimoto Construction will have to shed out approximately 1.14 billion Naira to the Italian companies for the kitchens alone. This means the company will be exporting thousands of jobs to Europe at a time when Nigeria is experiencing slow growth and raising unemployment. Equally, companies are closing down, shutting their doors and laying off thousands of employees. Additionally, importation of furniture into Nigeria is illegal. I could not but ask myself whether woodworking companies in Nigeria specializing in manufacturing kitchens no longer know how to manufacture high-end kitchens anymore? I could not believe that this could be happening at time the country is facing perhaps its worst economic challenges, at a time when the buzzing sounds of machines in furniture factories have been replaced by sounds of pin drops due to the economic slowdown and financial crisis. Some of these furniture factories have reported declining sales while others have gone bankrupt and gone out of business. This situation has contributed to the rising unemployment we are experiencing in Nigeria. Bringing in or allowing Nigerian kitchen manufacturing companies to participate in this project and investing N1.14 billion in that sector at this this would not only have been a game changer in so many ways but would have helped solidify kitchen manufacturing in Nigeria. This is apart from the hundreds of jobs it would have created in the country.

As part of the structural reform, the federal government has placed a ban on importation of furniture into the country. Are the management of Sujimoto Construction living in a bubble or unaware of this? Or this is just blatant disregard for government policy? What a lost opportunity for the construction company to be part of the league of companies working with the federal government to turn around the economy. My hope remains that Sujimoto will reconsider the whole situation and bring more Nigerian companies to work on the project. A project like this could be part of the silver bullet that would help take industries in Nigeria back to its glorious days and bring broad-based prosperity to Nigeria. The Nigeria economy is in a free fall and in periods like this, companies like Sujimoto Construction need to embrace structural reforms introduced to help stabilize the economy.

Should the company fail to reconsider its stance, may be the elites investing in this project should withhold their investment until the construction company reconsiders the journey they will be taking to make this dream of putting up the tallest residential building in Lagos a reality.

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