The second edition of the Kaduna Investment and Economic summit has come and gone. However, it left behind some lessons for the state particularly the Northern part of the country to ponder. Like the previous summit, this year’s edition attracted important dignitaries from all walks of life to the crocodile state.
Those who attended the two day event which started on 5th April and ended on 6th included the National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, the Minister of state for Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Shamsuna the Minister of state for Trade and Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar.
Others were the governor’s of Kano, Alhaji Umar Ganduje, Zamfara, Alh Abdulaziz Yari and deputy governor of Jigawa, Barrister Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia. There were equally dozens of key players in the private sectors as well as development partners like the United kingdom Department for Foreign Aid, United States Agency for International Development, World Bank, European Union, African Development Bank,among others.
In his opening address, the host governor, Nasir El-rufai set the ball rolling when he emphatically stated in his address titled, ‘Making Kaduna your Investment destination choice’ that many private companies have come to invest in the state because his government has taken far reaching decisions aim at making business easy, adding that his government had erased many bottle necks which had made business cumbersome and unattractive before he assumed office.
El-rufai announced that an investor can now acquire land and register his business within 30 days. ‘We have legalised our laws to conform with present day realities, he stressed.
Apart from that, he said they have taken the issue of security very seriously because of the realization that without adequate security, investors will also shun away, adding that investors have invested over 1bn dollars in the state within the last one year when they started the summit.
According to him, over 335,000 jobs were expected to be created when all the companies become fully operational and a minimum of 150,000 hectares of land would be utilized by the investors, adding that investors that are already on ground include Dangote who has a 10m dollars tomato production plant in Kaduna as well as Olam Animal, Poultry and Hatchery which has a 150m dollars factory at Chikun and Vicampro Potatoes Farm, a 120m dollars outfit in Manchok.
In his goodwill message, President Muhammad Buhari stated that he is leading a government that is desirous to creating a prosperous economy for Nigeria and his government considers as urgent priority, the creation of a prosperous economy where talents of Nigerians can thrive and sustainable jobs and opportunities for youth in the country.
He however assured that his administration will continue to support the private sector to provide the investment to drive the economic growth. “That is why we launched the presidential committee on the ease of doing business early in the life of this administration.”
He said the mandate is to simplify the processes and procedures for starting and running a business so that the cobwebs of archaic bureaucratic and administrative tradition do not stifle initiative and exacerbate the cost of doing business in the country.
The president commended El-rufai for erasing the bottle necks associating with doing business as well as encouraging private investors.
Also, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Saad condemned the political class for not doing enough to improve the lives of people. The royal father advised politicians to note that we are not yet in 2019. He noted that there is still time for them to improve the lives of the ordinary people in the region as well as Nigerians. Sultan Saad advised them against embarking on white elephant projects like airports that have no direct bearings to the people.
Speaking in the same vein, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi who delivered a keynote address titled, “Promoting Business in the Midst of Economic Challenges” observed that government should encourage private investors to build infrastructure such as roads, rails, power, etc that are profitable. He also noted that Nigerians investors like Aliko Dangote should be encouraged to invest in the region and other parts of Nigeria.
The emir also called on Northern governments to conserve their resources for those areas where governments have failed in the last few decades; urging them to invest in education and healthcare. Earlier, Sanusi like the Sultan had charged politicians to change from their lackadaisical present attitude and see on how they would improve lives of their subjects.
“I join the Sultan by calling on our political leaders at national and sub-national levels to please remember that elections are not in 2017, therefore let us stop playing politics and talk about education and health care . When we get to late 2018, you stop working and politicise, we will understand that but for now it is too early. You can’t be in politics for four years. This is a big problem when we are talking about economic difficult environment,” Sanusi argued.
The National Chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun eulogized El-rufai for executing the different programmes which have direct bearings to the common man. Oyegun said he was happy with the governor’s efforts in the areas of education, health, economy as it will place the state on the path of progress and development.
While commending the state government for organizing the economic and investment summit initiative, he said what the governor was doing was in line with the party’s blueprint.
“I am convinced that by the time you finish your tenure as the Governor of Kaduna State, we will have a new Kaduna State,” Oyegun stated, adding that El-rufai is a pride to APC and he is happy that he is sharing the knowledge and ideas to other governors of the APC
“What you are doing is to show and make sure that Kaduna is well placed as investment destination of choice. We are happy with the development because anything that happens here will have effect all over the country. Investment will not go anywhere without peace and I believe you are working in that direction. Because, I know Kaduna is making great efforts to make Kaduna State an investment heaven,” Oyegun said.
However, the governor of Kano state, Alh Umar Ganduje and his Zamfara state counterpart, Alh Abdulaziz Yari spoke on the need for the region to diversify its economic potentials in line with the federal government agenda. They talked about the comparative advantage that abound in the region and contended that the time has come for the region to use it in improving the lives of its people.
Ganduje further said that there is need for the North to come together under one roof and take the lead while Yari also noted that the region has the largest land mass in the country and agriculture must be harnessed in order to address poverty.