Small businesses can develop local communities

Multifarious problems associated with under-development in the nation’s local communities will be solved when conducive environment is created for small and medium scale enterprises to thrive.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin after a special prayer organised by Mike Omotosho Foundation on 50th anniversary of Kwara state, the founder of the group, Dr Mike Omotosho, also said that a lot of community development would spring up if attention was given to such initiatives, adding that people would then realise that government was just in place to provide needed platform.

The prayer session that lasted for 50 minutes, saw 50 clerics from both Islam and Christianity, taking turns to pray for one minute each.

Omotosho opined that government could address challenges facing each segment of the society by empowering the people, especially the business community, which he said would thereafter take time individually to develop their communities.

He said it was not the responsibility of the government to develop each community but only concerned with the duty of providing the enabling environment for the people.

The 2015 governorship candidate of the Labour Party also said that the duty of community development rested in the hands of people resident in various communities as long as government played its own role.

Omotosho maintained that if enabling environment is created, people would be willing to pay taxes, develop their communities and work toward the enhancement of their communities.

On what should be the focus of the government in years to come, Dr. Omotosho said, “For me, it is about providing the platform for people to excel. Government truly does not develop the community. You need to empower people to begin to survive by themselves, and then they will in turn, develop their communities.

“When you look at Lagos for instance, you will find out that there is a lot of internally generated revenue. Where is this money coming from? You cannot extract money from people that are not making money; you cannot give what you do not have.

“When you empower people to be able to do businesses in such a way that they are successful, they will willingly pay taxes, they will willingly develop their communities, they will willingly work toward the enhancement of their communities where they live in. And that is exactly how cities are developed. It is individuals that develop the communities.

“For instance, if we are able to proliferate small and medium scale enterprises locally, you will find out that a lot of community development will happen and people will begin to realise, that government is just there to provide the platform, not really to develop the community. That is exactly where our leaders, I think, they have gotten it wrong.”

Speaking on the rationale behind the prayer session, Omotosho said it was imperative prayer is encouraged whatever set to achieve by any society.

He stated that Kwara has achieved a lot in the last 50 years, but noted that there is need for improvement in all sphere of governance of the state.

“It is important to start whatever one intends to do with prayers, because spiritually that provides strategic guidance to whatever your proposed actions are. So, celebrating Kwara at 50 will require that we stop, pray about whatever mistakes we have made in the past.

“But more importantly, to commit the next 50 years perhaps or the next stage into the hands of God. We truly believe we have a supreme being, and that is why it was inter-faith prayer, to bring everybody together and then pray for the progress of the state.

“A lot has been achieved in fairness but the truth is, you will all agree with me there is still room for more. There has been some unfair comparison with states like Lagos and Rivers for instance. Of course, the terrain is totally different.

“But I believe we can do more than we have done. Giving the opportunity that we already have, there is definitely room for improvement. We must commend the effort of the past leaders, but there is room for improvement”, Omotosho said.