Phillips Consulting, an indigenous management and digital technology firm, has tasked states across the country to enter into strategic alliances in order to support initiatives that tackle unemployment and create jobs.
Speaking at the monthly meeting of Nigerian-South African Chamber and Commerce (NSACC) in Lagos at the weekend, which had Lagos and Ogun states, formed a strategic partnership, managing director of Phillips Consulting, Robert Taiwo said the current challenges in the business community and the lack of fund accruing to states has created the imperative for collaboration between states and private sector.
He regretted that in Nigeria, there had not been many such strategic partnerships both in the private and public sectors.
In the quest to kick start such strategic collaborative partnership between key states in Nigeria, Phillips Consulting uses the monthly breakfast meeting of the NSACC as a platform to announce the birth of a strong alliance/partnership between Lagos and Ogun states’ government.
Taiwo said, “In 2020, to support the Federal and State governments initiative of addressing unemployment and creating jobs, Phillips Consulting will work in collaboration with its content partners to deliver free online training on specialised IT Certifications to 500 Nigerian youths across the country.”
During this event, the governors of both states participated in a panel session moderated by Foluso Phillips, chairman of the consulting firm.
This Lagos/Ogun Partnership Alliance (LOPA) model is the first of its kind in Nigeria and it is targeted at addressing; decongestion of Lagos State, development of a Land Port, rail and water transportation between both states, Private Public Partnership (PPP) funding for infrastructural development, a grand master-plan for the integration of both states and extension of their vision by working closely with the development agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission; a ‘Lagos/Ogun Integration Summit’ organised in collaboration with DAWN will be a good start.
At the meeting both governors identified several quick wins, which include signing of the already prepared agreement by both states to set up a Lagos/Ogun Commission that will handle all issues that are of common interest to the states.
Others are to execute the Joint Resident Registration Scheme to tackle insecurity, completion of an ongoing rice mill in Lagos that will receive and process most of the rice input from Ogun State and expansion of trailer park in Ogun state to help ease the Apapa traffic congestion in Lagos.
The partnership also seeks to address the conclusion of an agreement with the Federal government to take over the completion of several Federal roads bordering the two states such as the Lagos – Sagamu Expressway, which is only at 20 percent completion.
According to the managing director of Phillips Consulting, for such a model to succeed, “it is important for each State to have a clear vision prior to the initiation of the partnership. The planned partnership must align with the vision of the collaborating States,” he said.
“For collaboration between States to be successful, there must be commitment and leadership from the top. This will ensure the elimination of unnecessary bureaucracy, corruption and red tapes,” Taiwo pointed out.
On barriers to success, Phillips Consulting stated that for any collaborative agreement between states to be successful, there was a need to first identify, plan and then mitigate all potential barriers to the success of the agreement.
