Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has urged the 36 state governors to invest in areas of economic strength where they have comparative advantages in order to shore up their internally generated revenues (IGRs) and move away from relying solely on federal allocations for survival.
Osinbajo made the appeal yesterday in Ado Ekiti at the Ekiti State Economic and appropriate Summit dubbed “Fountain Summit 2021,” which was organized by the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, and his administration to address some socio-economic issues plaguing the state.
The vice president’s suggestion came to light as some state governors, including Kayode Fayemi, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Godwin Obaseki, and Nasir El-Rufai of Ekiti, Lagos, Edo, and the Kaduna States, canvassed a robust multi-layer policing system in the country to protect citizens and investments that can drive development.
The quartet insisted that preventing governors of respective states from taking charge of security has a negative impact on investments, development, and people’s well-being.
The summit, titled ‘Investment Attractiveness and Economic Development: Lessons for Sub-nationals,’ was attended by Governors El-Rufai, Obaseki, and Sanwolu, as well as their counterpart from Ondo, Rotimi Akeredolu, who was represented by his Deputy, Lucky Ayedatiwa, and they were panelists.
One of the panelists, Osinbajo, stated that the time has come for state chief executives to begin thinking about how to grow the economy as a nation, by investing in the most appropriate ways in areas of economic strength.
“However, in order to grow investments, we must be wary of multiple taxations, which weighs down businesses.” Ekiti State is a business-friendly state.
It has also outperformed in terms of ease of doing business.
You have a lot of arable land for farming.
In addition, the state government recently divested 76 percent of its stake in the Ikun Dairy Farm to Promasidor, which produces 80,000 liters of milk per day.
“Let me say that Ekiti State’s economy is larger than that of many African countries.”
The question we should ask is, “How would we survive if I were the landlord of this country?”In 1999, when I was a Commissioner in Lagos State, we began with N600 million in monthly IGR.
President Olusegun Obasanjo’s seizure of Lagos State funds caused us to think like a sovereign state. Lagos now earns more than N45 billion per month.
“The most secure path forward is to increase investments in areas where Ekiti State has a comparative advantage.”
We should also make wise investments in technology in order to expand the knowledge economy, which is education.
“Let me commend the state Governor, Kayode Fayemi, on his foresight in recognizing that technology is the best way to go.”
I am also pleased that the low broadband airwave charges have already begun to attract investment to Ekiti State.
What is popular now is that well-trained technology professionals are game-changers.
This value, I believe, has not been lost by the state.
It must be the knowledge economy’s fountain, not just the fountain of knowledge.
“The multisystem hospital at Afe Babalola University in Ado Ekiti is now being mentioned internationally.”
It has made significant advances in neurosurgery, surgery, plastic surgery, and many other fields of medicine. Many countries lack such a facility.”
Concerning the lingering security crisis that is slowly crippling the economy, Fayemi insisted that a multi-level policing system is the best way out of the current predicament.
According to the governor of Ekiti State, “this request does not imply the abolition of the central police.”
If you have a security problem in Kaduna State, Governor el-Rufai is easily accessible.
My recent experience, and that of many of our governors, was not even pleasant: we wanted to buy drones, and the president was on board, but the National Security Agency (NSA) refused us the End User Certificate, even though we received it a year later.
“For the time being, security is on the exclusive list.”
Even if the federal government agrees to let us buy some weapons, we must first sign an agreement with the Nigerian Airforce.
We must collaborate because investors rank security as the highest priority in any state.”
Fayemi stated that his government has signed a bill into law creating the state of Ekiti.
Economic Council, to plan and execute the summit in order to ensure that the outcome outlives his administration.
On how to reduce the cost of governance, Fayemi believes that the COVID-19 pandemic has helped in significant ways, stating that the dwindling revenues to states have taught governors a lesson that they must block leakages in revenue collection and leverage on areas where they can get support from the federal government, particularly social intervention programs.
He claimed to have completed many of the projects abandoned by Governor Ayodele Fayose, claiming that abandonment due to lack of interest and party change is a major impediment to growth and development.
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, backed the call for a state police force, saying police should be removed from the exclusive list of entities under state governors’ control.
“If you have a business, you have to protect it, and you have to have the tools to do so,” he explained.
Security is on the exclusive list, and we are hoping that the federal government will remove it so that states can take charge of security.
“We must provide facilities for the police to train our local vigilantes, just as we did in Edo State.”
We formed a vigilante unit to protect our villages from kidnappers and other criminals.”
Speaking about the role of ICT in driving the economy at the subnational level, Obaseki advised states to use ICT to recast primary education by teaching children at that age to see Computers as a natural part of their lives.
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The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, spoke out in support of the establishment of state police, saying, “When you have investments, you have to protect them and also take responsibility for whatever happens.”
Investors will look to the governors for protection, which is unfortunate given that we are not in charge. This is the jurisdiction of the federal government.”
Suggesting how Ekiti State can transform its IGR and break the challenge of relying solely on federal allocation, Sanwo-Olu stated that Lagos State is now making between N45 and N48 billion monthly, up from N600 million in 1999
He proposed that the state digitize its revenue collection process and give state Internal Revenue Service employees incentives to do their jobs without committing corruption.
Security, according to Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, is a major issue that every Nigerian should be concerned about.
The Kaduna State governor laid the groundwork for why the policing system should be decentralized, saying, “We have 150,000 personnel in the Nigerian Army.”
The police force was 400,000 when this government took over, but it is now down to 300,000 We require multi-tiered law enforcement.
Policing is done on a local level, just as it is in a unitary state like the United Kingdom.
“Kaduna State is approximately 46,000 square kilometers in size.”Boko Haram has been chased out of the Northeast by ISWAP and is now in the Northwest. But where would they go if they were to be dislodged here? This is why we should be concerned as a group.”
He went on to say that the country should decentralize the power of the National Judicial Council, which determines the number of judges a state can have.”No country can develop above the level of its civil service; you must appoint the right civil servants, and we simply pave the way for younger people to take Nigeria to the next level.”
“I have just appointed the youngest chief executive officer of any agency in Nigeria, a 28-year-old, to lead the Kaduna State Investment Promotion Agency.”
