Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, has described
elite Nigerians as greedy.
According to him, ordinary Nigerians only needed government
support to make live meaningful for themselves.
He, therefore, called on the 19 northern governors to invest
on the Small Scale Enterprises, to make life better for people in the region.
The Sultan spoke at the opening ceremony of the second Kano
Economic and Investment Summit with the theme, ‘Transforming the Economy of
Kano: Turning Challenges into Opportunities’.
Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who declared open the
summit, was represented by the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahaman
Danbazau.
Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III said, “our people are not greedy
like our elite who would want to have all, support the common man with small
business to enable them have something to fall back on, and when you do this
they would be happy, and we would have peace and decent society”.
He stressed the need to invest in agriculture, noting that
focus in agriculture would add value to the economy of Kano and Nigeria as a
whole.
“Economics is not rocket science. Countries that have
developed went through a certain act and that act is value creation. We must
obviously focus on agriculture and certainly, we must look at agricultural
productivity”, he said.
Earlier, Osinbajo assured Nigerians that the Federal
Government would remain resolute in tackling the economic challenges facing the
country.
His speech read by Dambazau, said the Federal Government was
also committed in the fight against corruption and insecurity which were
impediments to economic prosperity.
“We will remain committed on the three focused areas which
include fighting corruption, insurgency and providing employment to the teeming
number of unemployed youths in the country”, he stated.
Osinbajo maintained that the Kano Investment summit was in
line with the Federal Government’s effort geared toward economic
revitalization, assuring that such initiatives would be encouraged so as to
improve the doing business climate and make life better for the people .
He expressed the hope that the summit would come up with
recommendations that would promote investment opportunities not only in Kano
State but the country at large.
Minister of Budget and National Planning Minister, Senator
Udoma Udo Udoma announced that funds have been provided in the 2017 Federal
Budget to provide infrastructure for the revival of the Free Trade Zone in Kano
to stimulate industrial activity.
He added that funding has equally been provided for the
revival of the Export Expansion Grant by way of tax relief, as a further
incentive to exporters.
Senator Udoma assured that the Federal government would
support Kano state towards regain the lost glory of its major industrial
estates so as to create jobs and lift Nigerians out of poverty
“There is no doubt that Kano leather craftsmen are some of
the best in the world. We must provide the enabling environment for the leather
industry to grow and become a mark of quality recognized worldwide”, the
Minister added.
In his remarks, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje explained
that “the idea of conceiving this summit is to generate perspectives,
strategies and best practices that would showcase viable investment
opportunities with a view to attracting local and foreign investors for the
sustainable economic transformation of Kano State and by extension Nigeria at
large”.
“Our vision is to have a private sector driven economy and
in line with the Federal and State Governments resolutions to improve Nigeria’s
ranking on the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index”, he added.
To fast track development, he stated that his administration
has made substantial and far reaching investments in agriculture and
infrastructure, while effort is ongoing towards addressing the state’s power
challenge, which has crippled many industries.
Ganduje further remarked his administration has secured a of
$1.85 million loan from China, for the Kano intra city light rail project,
which would go a long way in enhancing commercial activities in the state
capital.
By Wale Odunsi
