 Our country is one of the highest producers of leather and finished leather products in Africa. And as we've heard a study carried out by the Nigerian Economic Summit projected that the Nigerian leather industry has the potential to generate over a billion US dollars by 2025. The leather value chain is extensive as you know it includes animal husbandry, tanneries, finished leather products and leather products market. The leather and leather products industry itself we are told currently employs over 700,000 workers with about 500,000 workers in the finished leather goods sector. They are about 11 leather exporting companies and they have been very active in the upstream end of the leather value chain. Together these companies today generate about 8,000 jobs and the export of leather has grown steadily reaching a peak of about 117 billion dollars in 2018 but it fell in 2020 largely due to the pandemic. To date however exports are somewhere in the order of 272 million US dollars. Nigerians semi-finished leather have their highest print from it in several countries of the world, Italy, Spain, India, South Asia and China. And the market in shoes, belts, bags or folders are all over West Africa and many parts of Africa. Some of the evidence that we gather say that the famous Abbas shoe cluster in Amir city informally exports almost a million pairs of shoes every week to destinations in Africa. They must be huge and its potential can only be imagined. So there is no question that properly organized the leather and leather products industry can become one of the major items in Nigeria's export basket. There is clearly an enormous potential for even greater job opportunities and much higher export process. As we've seen the Nigerian economics of input projection shows that the Nigerian leather industry has the potential to increase earnings by as much as 70% in the next couple of years. So this experience by this much of the national leather and leather products policy implementation plan is such an exciting development. We now have a real opportunity to address the specific challenges and shortcomings of the leather sector with pragmatic strategies to permanently resolve some of these issues for optimal productivity. In particular, there is now a clear line of sight to our emergence as a major hub if only in Africa for the manufacture of leather goods with the refocusing of the leather sector to value addition from the previous focus on export of semi-processed leather. And a major part of that effort is improving access to credit for leather product manufacturers. So this plan provides an opportunity to develop a credit guarantee scheme along the lines of the very successful and cultural credit guarantee scheme. In addition, a more intentional infrastructure development plan is now possible, especially in non-zones programming already highlights product manufacture as a later focus of the plans for the economic zone. So all that is required now is synergy and collaboration with NEPSA and we will indeed be able to have the kind of infrastructure that can support this industry. By optimizing the value chain, the sector will provide employment, improve our foreign experience and growth. Consequently, it is evident that just in terms of what we have set for ourselves to do through the policy and implementation plan, the stakes are very high. The plan covers eight thematic areas as the only minister of state has told us, including intellectual property rights, governance, e-Leather, environmental and social best practices, marketing, funding, critical infrastructure and research and development. The plan is as all-encompassing as it is detailed and relevant in the areas, NGOs and the online private sector are already assigned specific responsibilities for the various objectives and strategies of the plan. The central feature of the plan is the development of technical capacity in leatherworks and technology. For the National Institute of Leather, Science and Technology, the arrowhead has established nine extension centers across six geographical zones of Nigeria. These extension centers already operational with well-built workshops, laboratories and exhibition shows to train and develop young entrepreneurs in Nigeria as well as provide innovative research and development in processes. So we now have the capacity to train the processing and conversion of high-tech schemes and polymers into leather and leather products of global standard. The institute has been providing courses of instruction towards the HND, O&D diplomas, pre-diplomas, advanced certificate and certificate programs. It also actively engaged in research and development activities on leather and leather product technologies and related fields. The institute is collaborating with the Ministry of Military for research, development, design and production of military footwear and military products made together. So the very idea of an implementation plan is in my view refreshingly innovative. It addresses the malignant problem of great plans called delivery that appears to be devil many policies of government. The plan sets out deliverables, tells us who the implementers are and it sets timelines. The next steps are clear and the stage is set for establishing the leather and leather products industry in Nigeria and is short-footed and well-thought out, both trajectory. The Honourable Minister of Science and Technology, the Honourable Minister of State and the team, the Honourable Minister himself and the Lost Earth Sciences, the Man of Ideas, they all deserve our commendation for this plan. So our list of those that must be commented, must hand the collaborators, their collaborators, including the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Environment and the raw materials research and government council and of course the Nigerian Institute of Leather, Science and Technology who are the Secretary for the project. We also thank the European Union and the German Society for International Cooperation, GIC, who through the Nigerian competitiveness project are partnering in the implementation of this policy. Very well done, everyone. We look forward to the great results of this well-thought-out plan and we expect to see those results in very, very short time. It is now my very special pleasure and privilege to formally launch the National Leather and Leather Products Policy implementation plan and I will go down and invite all of those on the high table to join me as the official of the plan. God bless.