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Nigerians Express Support for the Made-In-Nigeria Dress Days as a Means to
stimulate Economic Growth:
Abuja, Nigeria. May 9th 2017 - Latest public opinion poll conducted by NOIPolls has revealed
overwhelming support by Nigerians (83 percent) regarding the Monday and Wednesday native
dress days proposed by the Presidency. This policy was addressed in a letter to the National
Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) as an outcome of the Federal Executive Council
Meeting in a bid to encourage patronage of Made-in-Nigeria goods. The survey findings also
revealed a low level of awareness on the proposed dress days as 74 percent stated that they
were not aware of this new policy. This suggests that more effort needs to be put in place by
NICO to ensure public awareness and sensitization of these dress days when it’s fully
implemented.
More findings from the survey indicated that 95 percent of Nigerians wear Made-in-Nigeria
dresses and this is reflective of their love for culture and tradition and the fact that Nigeria is a
nation blessed with heterogeneous, deep cultural heritages and enclaves which manifest in
dress types and choices. With this figure, it is expected that Nigerians would support a policy or
decision by the presidency on such national issues. Reasons for support of the policy
included; it promotes our cultural heritage and national identity (33 percent), it will boost the
economy (17 percent), it will increase the patronage of locally made clothes (16 percent)
amongst reasons. Contrarily, the 17 percent who did not support the policy were of the opinion
that it shouldn’t be imposed on Nigerians (33 percent), it’s unprofessional (20 percent) and
that Government should focus on the economy rather than clothes (14 percent) amongst others.
Furthermore, the survey measured the likelihood of Nigerians wearing Made-in-Nigeria dresses
on Monday’s and Wednesday’s and research findings revealed that 81 percent said they are
likely to wear Made-in-Nigeria dresses on these days while 19 percent said that they are
unlikely to adopt the policy.
Finally, about 9 in 10 Nigerian’s (89 percent) are positive that the outcome of the support to
wear Made-in-Nigeria clothes on the proposed dress days will boost the Nigerian economy. The
statement ‘‘Buy Naija, to grow the Naira’’ as an adopted mantra needs to be taken beyond talk
to action and the policy of these dress days is one way to do so. The theory, principle, and
practice of Africapitalism can only be successful through sustainable synergistic approaches
such as formulating informed data-based policies, decisions and bilateral trade agreements
targeted at improving the economy.
Brief Background:
President Muhammadu Buhari on a letter dated 4th April 2017 addressed to the Executive
Secretary of National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) declared Mondays and
Wednesdays every week, as Made-in-Nigeria Dress Days across the country. This letter was a
follow-up on the outcome of the Federal Executive Council Meeting (FEC) on the 1st February
2017 as part of measures to uplift the nation’s culture and promote Made-in-Nigeria textile
products [1].
President Buhari further directed that a presentation on the Made-in-Nigeria Campaign be
made to the National Economic Council to secure the buy-in of State Governments. As a followup to the letter, the Minister of Information & Culture, Lai Mohammed, asked the Management
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of NICO to provide a comprehensive proposal on how to effectively implement the policy in a
manner that would encourage all Nigerians to conveniently observe the Made-in-Nigeria Dress
Days [2]. The Made-in-Nigeria campaign which kick-started last year at the 22nd summit of the
National Economic Council is still an ongoing discuss and is part of the measures adopted by the
government to conserve foreign exchange, stimulate economic growth and create jobs[3].
The purpose and intention of the Made in Nigeria dress days are to influence the orientation in
consumption pattern by shifting the mindset and preference of Nigerians for anything imported
and foreign-made to patronizing Made-in-Nigeria products. In view of this background, NOIPolls
conducted a topical poll to gauge the perception and level of Nigerians regarding the Made in
Nigeria dress day’s policy by the presidency.
Survey Findings:
Nigeria is blessed with diverse cultures and heritage and these affects the way Nigerians dress
and socialize. The different ethnic and religious groups have peculiar cultural enclaves which
shape their dress patterns. This is mostly noticeable on Fridays and Sundays as most Nigerians
appear on different indigenous designs of apparels and attires. Although there is an argument if
the materials are locally or foreign mass-produced but it is agreeable that the sewing is mostly
by indigenous fashion designers. Till now, the working class Nigerians mostly wears corporate
attires from Mondays to Thursdays and other related endeavors, while they typically dress
down on Fridays. Some organizations do not hold this in strict consideration unlike most formal
business communities.
In other to ascertain the level of patronage of Made-in-Nigeria clothes, respondents to the
survey were asked if they wear Made-in-Nigeria dresses. The survey result revealed that
majority of Nigerians (95 percent) wear Made-in-Nigeria clothes and this is reflective of their
love for culture and tradition. Analysis by geopolitical zone further revealed that South-West
(98 percent) and South-East (97 percent) accounted for the zones where made-in-Nigeria
clothes are mostly worn.
There was media recognition following the letter by the presidency on the Made-in-Nigeria
dress days, so in order to measure the level of awareness on the policy, the respondents were
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further asked if they were aware of the policy. The survey results revealed that majority of
Nigerians (74 percent) were not aware of the policy while 26 percent showed awareness.
Furthermore the South-East zone (33 percent) recorded the highest level of awareness while
the North-Central (79 percent) and South-West (79 percent) zones recorded the highest
number of people who showed no aware. This is indicates a pressing need to increase the level
of awareness regarding the policy through adequate media channels prior to its adoption and
implementation as it will drive the Made-in-Nigeria campaign.
One of the negative effects of acculturation in Nigeria is the excessive dependence on foreign
products which the new policy is intended to combat partly. To ascertain the level of support
for the Made-in-Nigeria days’ policy, respondents were further asked if they supported it. From
the poll results, it is clear that majority (83 percent) were in support while (17 percent) were
not in support. Analysis by geopolitical zone revealed that North-West (88 percent) and NorthEast (85 percent) had the highest support
The survey further sought the reasons from respondents for supporting or not supporting the
policy. Of the 83 (percent) who showed support for the policy, 33 percent stated that ‘‘it
promotes our cultural heritage and national identity’’, 17 percent said that ‘‘it boosts our
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economy’’ and 16 percent said that ‘‘it will increase the patronage of locally made clothes’’
amongst other reasons.
Furthermore, the survey also measured the perception of the respondents who said they were
not in support of the proposed policy. The result revealed that of the 17 percent who were not
in support, 33 percent said ‘‘it shouldn’t be imposed on Nigerians’’, 20 percent said ‘‘it’s
unprofessional’’ and 14 percent were of the view that ‘‘Government should focus on the
economy not clothes’’ amongst other reasons.
The survey also measured the likelihood of Nigerians wearing Made-in-Nigeria dresses on
Mondays and Wednesdays and it revealed that 81 percent (27 percent + 54 percent) said they
are ‘‘likely’’ and ‘‘very likely’’, to wear Made-in-Nigeria on these days respectively. On the other
hand, 19 percent (8 percent + 11 percent) said that they are ‘‘very unlikely’’ and ‘‘unlikely’’ to
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wear Made-in-Nigeria on these days respectively. Analysis across geopolitical zones revealed
that the North-East (88 percent: 24 percent + 64 percent) and North-West (86 percent: 22
percent + 64 percent) had the highest level of likelihood to wear Made-in-Nigeria while the
South-South (31 percent: 12 percent +19 percent) and South-East (26 percent: 14 percent + 12
percent) had the highest of unlikelihood of support.
Finally, in order to ascertain the claim by the presidency that the policy will stimulate economic
growth, the respondents were asked if they think their support would boost our economy. On
this, the survey revealed that 89 percent of the respondents were positive that the outcome of
the support to wear Made-in-Nigeria clothes on those proposed dress days will boost our
economy while 11 percent were of a contrary opinion. Analysis by gender interestingly,
revealed that more males (91 percent) were more optimistic of the outcome of the support
when compared with the 87 percent female respondents.
In conclusion, majority of Nigerians are not aware of the proposed policy by the Presidency and
this is suggestive of the need for NICO to put in more efforts in communicating the policy
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through different media channels prior or after its successful implementation. The statement
‘‘Buy Naija, to grow the Naira’’ as an adopted mantra needs to be taken beyond talk to action
and the policy of these dress days is one way to do so. Nigerians should see more reasons to
buy Made-in-Nigeria products and there should be sustainable policy implementation in
relation to imported goods and our export potential.
Africapitalism is another critical strategy to be considered for growing our economy and it can
only be successful through sustainable synergistic approaches such as formulating informed
data-based policies, decisions and bilateral trade agreements targeted at improving the
economy. This will support the growth, development and sustainability of indigenous
businesses especially the Nigerian textile industry. As the government through the National
Economic Council is encouraging Nigerians to buy Made-in-Nigeria goods and services, they
should ensure that the ease of doing business of which Nigeria is currently ranked 169th in the
world1 is improved upon even as they would soon commence the implementation of the
Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.
Survey Methods
The opinion poll was conducted in the week of April 10th 2017. It involved telephone interviews
of a random nationwide sample. 1,000 randomly selected phone-owning Nigerians aged 18
years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country, were interviewed. With
a sample of this size, we can say with 95% confidence that the results obtained are statistically
precise - within a range of plus or minus 3%. NOIPolls Limited is the No1 for country specific
polling services in West Africa. We conduct periodic opinion polls and studies on various socioeconomic and political issues in Nigeria. More information is available at www.noi-polls.com or
download our mobile app NOIPolls on your smartphone.
Disclaimer
This press release has been produced by NOIPolls Limited to provide information on all issues
which form the subject matter of the document. Kindly note that while we are willing to share
results from our polls with the general public, we only request that NOIPolls be acknowledged
as author whenever and wherever our poll results are used, cited or published.
NOIPolls hereby certifies that all the views expressed in this document accurately reflect its
views of respondents surveyed for the poll, and background information is based on
information from various sources that it believes are reliable; however, no representation is
made that it is accurate or complete. Whilst reasonable care has been taken in preparing this
document, no responsibility or liability is accepted for errors or fact or for any views expressed
herein by NOIPolls for actions taken as a result of information provided in this report. Any
ratings, forecasts, estimates, opinions or views herein constitute a judgment as at the date of
1
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/10/nigeria-ranks-169th-position-world-bank-ease-business
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this document. If the date of this document is not current, the views and content may not
reflect NOIPolls’ current findings and/or thinking.
Press Contact
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Email: [email protected]
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