By Wisdom Chukwu-Ohaegbule
It is not an ordinary decision to award the duty, task, and status of ‘keynote speaker’ to an expert. There must be evidence of steady progress and achievement in a given sector.
Thus, when Mr Kelvin Uwaibi, CEO, Edo State Investment Promotion Office, mounted the podium at the 39th Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Conference/Exhibition at the Ark Event Centre on Aba Road on Tuesday, October 31, 2023, his 20 years in development finance seemed to spring to life. He said the Edo State Industrial Promotion Agency is purely to support investors and reduce entry bottlenecks.
Result? They have facilitated over $2.5Bn investments into the state. This showed that he actually attended the School of Government Business in University of Oxford.
Looking at the South-South
Mr Uwaibi reminded the critical audience that the S’S region was trading with Europeans and that Edo was using street lights before the coming of the white man. “So, how do we re-ignite industrialization in S’S, he posed the question and chose to use data from the region to prove his points.
He said there is correlation between industrialization and good leadership. China has proved this by taking 400m citizens out of poverty in less than 10 years.
He said there is the need to reduce crime, conflict, and regional disparity, if the S’S wished to blaze an industrial trail, agreeing with what BOI man said about developing the spirit that controls business and industry beyond the quest for infrastructure and finance.
He thus showed areas to tackle right away; tech and agric. He said the SS was indicated to have $22.4Bn GDP which he called a depreciation, and regretted that the region lags behind in human development index. He said SS being 4th position in GDP is bad being the zone that produces the wealth of the nation. He urged the South-South to aim to be at least second position.
He showed the advantages such as abundant natural resources and wondered how somebody can be providing food but go about hungry.
Mr Uwaibi mentioned strategic locationing, saying Edo alone is larger than many countries and that other countries in Africa are angry with Nigeria because Nigeria has failed to lead them into the global arena with strength and pride.
He pointed at the Agric sector and said the SS has the best climate in Africa having a balance of both land and water. “It could be the heaven we seek. Research shows that on land and sea we are rich. But the SS is yet to touch blue economy; the wealth at sea.”
He said Nigeria seems not to see what other countries see, saying Edo has 14 old companies and other manufacturing companies mostly from China. “For them to leave their countries and come to Nigeria is a message. Nothing is insurmountable.”
He rejected the proverbial Nigerian factor but called for determination. He rejected the: the OPS blames public sector, and vice versa. With NEPC, why do we have scarcity of forex, he asked.
Weep not, rather think:
He pointed at tourism, saying dressing is a key matter in tourism. Packaging, he called it and urged the SS to move in and dominate it by packaging the SS festivals, holiday, etc. “Nigerians will still travel so let SS capture this. Internal tourism is huge. Ogun to PH, etc. PH is different between 2005 and now, now calm, like reservation area. So, the Rivers/Bayelsa MAN can take tourism and manufacturing as their focus to excel soon. One can do manufacturing and the other for relaxation (tourism).”
He faulted the duplication of efforts in the SS (something the BRACE group wanted to stop), saying there are too many ports in the SS. Where will the ship berth. We can share. You can set up an SPV and share money. But you compete instead of collaborate.”
He showed the place of good roads, saying in the coming African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) regime, logistics will be very important. “If roads are not okay, states may not compete. Use your brains. Weeping is not okay.”
How to get out of the crisis:
He said Nigerians do not only waste money but time. “How to get out of the crisis: Roads. Manhour waste on roads is huge; diesel, fuel, time, emotions. We pour them away on the roads. Time is money. Clips of our roads are disheartening.”
Ports are linked with roads. Apapa must not be the only viable port in Nigeria. Press on this. Do a lot of monitoring and evaluation. He urged the manufacturers to stay on their demands until the federal and state governments solve them. “Talk to your development partners, embassies, World Bank, IFC, etc.”
On movement of goods, he pointed at railways and power supply saying one km of road is built with N1Bn in the SS.
What we did in Edo:
“We now have 24 hours light. Only problem is gas. Plenty of money looking to come into Nigeria if they see integrity. SS can create a way to attract these. Power, rail, now in concurrent list. We look up to Abuja but money is not there.
“We are tilting to regional economies. Come together, help your brother. We should be in the mood to move forward. Aids are gone. Look inward. Clustering, yes. Government should focus on education which is key. Skills are a huge problem. SS can decide to play in this segment and even export skills.
Food processing is poor in the SS. “Think of creating opportunity in processing. SS should narrow to about 10 areas and share them out and canvas with them. Govt must not be in business. China may have done it but Nigeria cannot. The new normal is that the Govt will facilitate but should not go to the kitchen.”
He said they did the Edo State Techpark. “Young people now work for companies abroad earning up to $3,000 per moment. The SS can look at this. Some of the best coders do not have primary school certificate. Education is important but coding has no barriers. Edo State is targeting 15,000 software engineers by the 2025.
“We in Edo look at solutions to challenges; Oil palm: They said no policy in oil palm. We created policy. It has been upgraded to Fed Level.
“We have introduced the Edo Residents Card. When you begin to succeed, people will come in. Industrialisation affects lifestyle. Govt must plan for population and lifestyle when industry comes.
“Edo facilitated N69Bn. We have a company from the UK that wants us to give then 20,000 hectares of land but we don’t even have it. Let’s copy from each other. In Edo, we are shameless in copying from another person. We should see each other grow. Nigerians are highly united abroad but divided at home. Other African countries want to be Nigeria because of our bonding.”
On conflict between companies and communities, he advised that Govt must moderate, and not favour any side. “Edo found a formula.”
Railways: India’s GDP grew at 7.1% just by modernizing railways and got huge jobs. China got same result and employed over two million persons.
Industrial parks: He said without good railway system, you can’t evacuate. “If you don’t include it on day one, it won’t work. We do afterthought all the time.
Coastal railways system is needed, he stated. “SS can do a feasibility study as a starting point, get the costs. Gains, etc. In India, OPS invested $15Bn in railway development. You SS businesses can get foreign partners. Nigeria is hot now for investment. Even fuel wahala will change by next year.”
Reactions:
Some participants hailed the presentation as the way to go but pleaded that the issue pof land certificates must be looked into. He said certificates of occupancy are very crucial in investments and important for economic growth. They said Lagos has solved it and that MAN should tell govts here to solve this. They also talked about need for law and order as basic for industrial revolution.
