Recession: Don’t sack workers, restrategise – Delta SME boss tells industry owners

Patrick Isichei, director of small and medium enterprises (SMES) in the Delta State Ministry of Commerce and Industry has said though there is recession in the country, the best solution for industry owners is not to sack workers.

Isichei advised that rather than sack workers, companies should look inwards and strategise so as to remain in business.

The director made the appeal in an exclusive interview with BDSUNDAY in Asaba.

He noted that there was no doubt that with the current economic climate of the country industry owners were bound to sack workers, saying however, that resorting to sacking workers to cushion the effect of the recession would never be the way out even as he revealed that the ministry does its best to intervene by advising against such action.

He revealed the activities of the ministry towards the development of commerce and industry in the Delta State, saying: “The ministry is saddled with the responsibility of transforming SMEs into viable industries in order to provide employment, promote capacity building, and promote sustainable economic development. These we do in a form to reduce poverty at the grassroots level”, adding that when industry owners sack workers, it increases poverty level in society.

Isichei explained that the ministry goes beyond providing financial empowerment for SMEs to providing them with managerial empowerment and advisory capacity. “Once you are able to give them advice that can make them grow, you are empowering them to grow from micro to small, and from small to medium enterprises.”

“As a micro industry, you can stay in a room and manufacture your product. You can produce sachet water in a room. You cannot do it alone but you can provide job opportunities for people to do it with, thereby creating job opportunities for other people,” he said.

According to him, the ministry is structured into seven departments but that what makes it tick is the Professional Department which is made up of the Commerce, Cooperative, SMEs and the Industry departments to enable the ministry meet the year 2020 target.

He said: “Our SMEs department is entirely in-charge of micro, small, medium enterprises and ensures that businesses grow from micro to become small, from small to medium and from medium to large”.

He expressed belief that companies that are empowered could grow to become multinational companies. “Most multinational companies that are existing in the world, even in Nigeria, started small and today, they are multi-nationals. That is why we encourage the SMEs to grow from stage to stage,” he said.

Isichei noted that the Industry Department of the ministry is solely in-charge of large scale industries and some industries that are under government-managed industries. Government, he said is interested in opening up industries that would provide services to the people. It provides enabling environment by way of providing land for industrial estate where industries share common facilities, he explained.

He disclosed that over 30,000 Cooperative Societies are registered and empowered in the state not just by funding but by clinical, that is, training and counselling. “Most people now form cooperative societies. Members of these societies pull their resources together in order to carry out business that can be beneficial to them. He added that the cooperatives sensitise the economy,” he said.

“Ordinarily, if you go to bank to borrow money as an individual, you have high rate of interest. But if you can pull your resources together as cooperative society, you will see that the interest rate is very low. So, we encourage them to form cooperatives. When you form cooperative, you will contribute. You will benefit from inside the cooperative and the cooperative will benefit from banks. That is why you see some countries like China, India go SMEs and form coops”, the director said.

 

Mercy Enoch