From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Governor Yahaya Bello
Kogi state Government has set machinery on motion to create 500,000 new businesses in the state before the expiration of the present administration in 2024.
Governor Yahaya Bello dropped this hints on Wednesday in Lokoja to commemorate the maiden edition of international, Micro Small and Medium Enterprise, (MSME) day.
While marking this year MSME day with the theme : A Strategic tool for Economic Development”, the Governor said this will be achieved through stimulation of micro economies via innovativeness.
He stated that MSME account for 90 per cent of businesses, 60-70 per cent of employment and 50 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, worldwide.
Governor Bello added that the MSME growth is a strategic tool for economic development, stressing that, MSME contribute to both local and national economy.
Also, he said MSME is to help sustain livelihood, especially for the poor, Women, Youths, and other vulnerable People in the society.
According to him, he created Kogi state Enterprise Development Agency, (KEDA) to coordinate their immediate and long term needs, stressing that the state needed an outlet to engage and empower teaming youthful population.
He maintained that MSME remains the major drivers for economic growth especially a none industralised and developing society.
” I made it one of my pre occupation to create an agency through which we could encourage entrepreneurship and ultimately build a strong MSME in our state .
Earlier, in her remarks, the Managing Director/CEO, Kogi state Enterprise Development Agency, (KEDA) Hajia Rekiya Onaivo Sanni said MSMEs has contributed enormously to job creation, income generation, trade and inclusive growth.
She noted that despite efforts to stimulate the business environment, a lot still needs to be done to make MSMEs reach their full potential.
“It is against this backdrop that KEDA Is taking step further by initiating Kogi MSME Workshop, which is expected to set in motion Kogi MSME Clinic – one of the strategies for making it easier to do business in the state and increase revenue while decreasing unemployment”, she said.
However, a political activist, Goodman Akwu said the governor’s move to create 500,000 may not see the light of the day, considering what is on ground after six years in office.
“It may not be feasible. What is on ground for the last six years is enough to tell us what we may expect in the next eighteen months. I took this as a mere political statement“, he said.
But an aide of the governor who preferred to speak on anonymity said that the governor has given a lot to guarantee the statement becoming a reality before his administration wind up.
He said governor Yahaya Bello cannot do everything at the sametime, stressing that he has planted enough infrastructure, like Civic Centre at lokoja, Reference hospital at Okene, Ganaja -Lokoja over head bridge and host of others to induce development.
“If the governor said he is now focusing on creating wealth through boosting business activities, he is on course. Infrastructure to guarantee its feasibility is already on ground“, he said.
