As President Muhammadu Buhari prepares to present the draft of the 2017 financial plan to the National Assembly, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Kano State chapter, has asked the Federal Government to re-tool the nation’s macro-economic instrument and make it more effective in tackling the nation’s economic challenge.
The group noted with concern that the current macro-economic policy adopted by government had continued fuel poverty and unemployment in the country.
Accordingly, the association disclosed that at the moment it capacity generate return on investment (ROI), as well as generate wealth through creating employment has continued to decline, in the recent times.
Suleiman I. Umar, chairman, Kano-Bompai branch of the Association, who made this observation in Kano, said that the inability by government to entrench a suitable macro-economic instrument was contributing to unemployment crises in the state, and the nation at large.
Umar, who is also the managing director of Tofa Textile Mill pointed out that despite the numerous challenges being encountered by manufacturers in the state, they are still optimistic that the government has the capacity to turn the economy of the nation around for good.
“Our economy has continued to witness serious challenges as a result of the macro-economic changes, which have resulted in high poverty levels, poor infrastructural development, and high level of youth unemployment among others.
“Our economy is highly dependent on oil and with the current decease of oil price in the world market, Nigeria is finding it difficult to meets its obligations. The diversification of other sectors of the economy e.g. Agricultural and Mines Sectors has been very slow.
“The capacity of the Manufacturing Sector to create wealth through Job creation has continued to decline over the years, thus contributing to unemployment crises in the State in particular, and the Nation at large” he stated.
Umar also noted that manufacturers and other Organized Private Sector (OPS) have noticed that most companies could not access Forex despite the CBN `s directive to the banks to allocate 60% of their total allocations to them.
“Most of the Commercial Banks refuse to entertain request for Forex by manufacturers. This has further compounded the operational difficulties of many industries in the state. The difficulty in accessing Forex has even led to closing down of some companies.
“We have high hope that availability of Forex will bring the much needed solution to their problems. Our hope is that the present Administration will create an enabling environment that will attract investment, both foreign and domestic by eliminating unnecessary taxes that have become a burden on manufactures.
“You may recall that the Federal Government has already taken bold steps of banning the use of Tax Consultant in collection of taxes as it `s contrary to the provision Taxes and Levies Act. We hope that Kano State Government will follow suit,” he added.
Umar further disclosed that MAN has being championing the campaign for Government to encourage its Ministries, Parastatal and Agencies to patronised made –in-Kano goods, and other Kano made products.
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