A former governorship candidate of the Progressives Peoples Alliance, PPA, Mr. Emmanuel Ozigi has asked the federal government to restructure the security architecture to encourage a countrywide ring of investments in Nigeria.
He said that many investors were scared of deploying their money into places it will eventually get trapped because of insecurity.
Ozigi who spoke in Abuja at the official opening of Bukkies Park and Recreational Garden, a games and recreation centre in Abuja over the weekend said that Nigeria was a destination for businesses, urging the federal government to arrest the insecurity situation raise the investment profile of the country.
He said: “If you look at it in the last few years that Nigeria has experienced insecurity, there is no wise person that wants to put their hard earned money into an investment. The flow of FDI reduced drastically and it is because this is not an investment haven for now because you are looking at it from the global point of view Nigeria on red alert. So because of that a lot of people are not willing to come to Nigeria. It is very easy for the government to sit down and look at it and seek how to restructure and restructure our security system, so that one, we would be able to allow even the citizens to be able to sleep with two eyes.
“When people are able to sleep with two eyes, there is confidence. We need to restore that confidence. That investment confidence has to be there for people to be able to come in and invest. For instance, there are opportunities I can create in places like Zamfara, but because of insecurity I might not be able to go and invest there. Look at the implication of that to the economy. One, the GDP of the state reduces, the GDP of the country reduces, unemployment increases, risk is high. It is as bad as that. I think the government should be able to sit down and reorganize not only in terms of security architecture, but to restrategize and say how do we stop this insecurity in order for the economy to be vibrant once more.”
Ozigi who also has investments in schools and properties also appealed to the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA to liberalize the regulations guiding parks and recreational gardens, so they can generate more revenue and increase unemployment.
They should liberalize the regulations guiding parks and recreational gardens, so they can generate more revenue and increase unemployment. They may have a reason for not wanting permanent structures here, but as the world becomes contemporary and a global place, there are certain things that should change too and be amended to suit the contemporary situations.
“At the FCT level we have this constraint but at the state level we don’t have most of these constraints. They are trying to guard the master plan. They have designated everywhere to a particular thing. So they would not want alteration or obstruction of their design, which I understand. What I am saying is that you can liberalize your policy. For instance, look at Aminu Kano Way and Ademola Adetokubo in Wuse 2, you can see business coming up there. A lot of residential have been commercial. That is a good initiative.
“Government would generate a lot of income from there. People are employed. There are many opportunities coming from that place. So when you look at things like that you can do it elsewhere because it has been done and it is doing well. It is not affecting anybody’s livelihood, instead it is improving livelihood. So if you have that in order sectors particularly the hospitality and tourism sectors, you will see the presence of people outside the country.
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This country is blessed and we have so many potentials. Take the example of the Obudu Cattle Ranch. Look at the potential there. Why do you need to spend your hard earned money outside the country when you have things like this. Go to Akwa Ibom, you have the seaside resort. You will enjoy it. Why do you have to go outside the country? You go to Lagos to see so many things. So why do we need to take our money to advance countries who are already developed. So, I expect that the policy makers would be able to sit down and have a review of some of these things that are making our people go out. Why can’t we put the effort and resources here.
“The government is going to generate revenue here in terms of tax and PAYE from the salaries of staff. So these are things the government should look at and liberalize their regulations to ensure that it allows people to do business.
“One of the key objectives of this administration is the ease of doing business and if you have ease of doing business, there are some things you need to liberalize to help people who have access to doing business to reduce unemployment.
“One of the critical areas I am interested in is that the government should be able to make the private sector provide a lot of support to development and if you give them some leverage and some palliatives then the growth in the economy is something that would be immeasurable. They would be able to create a lot of unemployment, poverty, social vices in the society and that is our key area”, he said.
Ozigi said Bukkies Park and Garden will help give meaning to life.
“We have been here the last 7 years trying to see how we can get approval. It is good to open the place for public access for relaxation and recreation. Only here is a health garden and our restaurants are purpose built for health. This is not a place where you come and sit and drink beer. It is not a place like that. Here is health. You come for games. You come for wedding receptions and things like that. That is what this place is designed for. The key objective of this investment.
“We invest a lot in security because we believe that when a place is safe a lot of people would come in and patronize. If it is not secure nobody would come”, he said.
(Vanguard)
