Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged President Bola Tinubu to prioritise security, which will make it easier for investment to thrive in the manufacturing sector after he announced measures to minimise the impact of fuel subsidy removal on the business community.
The president of the chamber, Mr Michael Olawale-Cole, said this in response to Mr Tinubu’s unveiling of a N75 billion credit facility between July 2023 and March 2024 to 75 enterprises to strengthen the manufacturing sector.
He added that his administration would energise MSMEs and the informal sector with N125 billion, among other schemes to engender sustainable economic growth.
According to Mr Olawale-Cole, while President Tinubu covered most of the strategic sectors of the economy, nothing was said about security, which was a critical factor in national development.
“Security has not been given sufficient attention.
“It is also of utmost importance to deal with the issue of insecurity because, without security, there can be no prosperity.
“If the issue of insecurity is not adequately dealt with, the implementation of these strategies could be in jeopardy,” he said.
The LCCI President emphasised the need to consider more enterprises, saying that 75 enterprises alone would not significantly impact the economy.
He urged the government to closely monitor the banking sector in the provision of these loan facilities so that the eventual cost of funds is not above 9 per cent from other banking fees and charges.
Mr Olawale-Cole, however, expressed concerns over the role of the state and local governments, as well as transparency in the implementation of the palliative strategies.
He urged the government to ensure smooth and promising implementation of the measures and regularly engage the citizens and the organised private sector to ensure accountability.
“We also wish to nudge the government to share in the sacrifice made by Nigerians by reducing the high cost of governance in all its tiers and ensuring fiscal leakages and corruption are strategically dealt with.
“As we commend the government’s courage in enacting a series of policies, we trust that government would be courageous enough to cut the cost of governance.
“This will demonstrate to Nigerians that the leaders share in the suffering and sacrifice of the people.
“The perks available to public office holders are so enormous that it is difficult for the average Nigerian to understand why they suffer so much and those in leadership are unaffected.
“We urge Mr President to do the needful, and we expect further announcements on the measure to cut the cost of governance,” he said.
He charged the government to track down and apprehend the culprits of oil theft to act as a deterrent and communicate powerfully that crime must be punished and also urged Nigerians to exercise some patience, saying that the degradation of the economy occurred over several decades and could not be reversed within a few short months.
