Some Nigerian state governors have said that the top priority in accelerating overall growth in the country is for states to invest in infrastructure, human capacity development, and creating an enabling environment among others.
Speaking alongside a member of the presidential enabling business environment council, they made this known at a plenary session themed ‘subnational perspectives to economic viability,’ at the 28th Nigerian Economic Summit: 2023 & beyond: priorities for shared prosperity.
“I would say that the three most important reforms that every state should implement are to find a way to raise more internally generated revenue, create an enabling environment, and address skills gaps,” said, Nasir El-Rufai, governor, Kaduna state.
He said that states’ continuous dependence on the federal government is no longer sustainable.
“This year, the revenues become zero because we’re spending all the revenues from the sale of crude oil on the subsidy,” he said. “It is clear that in the last couple of years, the federation account transfers have been going down dramatically.”
So far this year, Nigeria has spent N3.2 trillion on petrol subsidies, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget, and national planning, said the FG is expected to spend N6.7 trillion on subsidy payments in 2023.
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“For me, the first priority reform to accelerate growth will be human capacity development,” Godwin Obaseki said. “Because revenue is dependent on the capacity of the people.”
The Edo state governor said that the commitment of states should be to ensure that the majority of the people have the relevant skills, the training, and the mindset to be able to produce for themselves and others. He said the other two important reforms for sub nationals to implement are, infrastructure and an enabling business environment.
Meanwhile, Jumoke Oduwole, executive secretary, presidential enabling business environment council, said for states to develop, they need to be transparent, accountable, have access to proper regulatory environment, and invest in technology.
“I think the regulatory environment definitely sets the tone for economic viability because, without transparency and efficiency in public service delivery across all states, the environments will continue to be less than palatable for the public or private sector to thrive,” said Oduwole.
She said the Council focuses mainly on small and medium-sized enterprises because they’re the backbone of the economy, “nearly 50 percent of GDP and they account for about 84 percent of jobs in Nigeria.”
Inuwa Yahaya, governor, Gombe state, further added that land usage is also a very important factor to be considered. He said each state needs to look at its comparative advantages and take advantage of them.
