Dr. Bongo Nnamani is the Chairman of Gudu Small and Medium Entrepreneurs. In this interview with FRANCIS KADIRI, he says government’s inability to create enabling environment for trade, is responsible for serial job losses,even as he stresses the need to expand market infrastructure in Nigeria. Excerpts
What is the profile of your business in job creation?
It is commonly believed that government is a major employer of labour, but I want to tell you that traders are also major employers of labour especially in countries where governments have been able to create enabling business environment.
All over the world, responsible governments use trade as avenues for jobs creation and revenue generation. Every sector offers business opportunities through which government can create jobs as well as boost its revenue. We want the Nigerian government to take a clue from this and make it.
Gudu market is a means of livelihood for more than 5,000 traders. A trader can have as many as four apprentices, each apprentice would later become established and have apprentices under him. That is the tradition that allows for a long chain of business establishment. So, we all have sales boys and sales girls and we continue to create jobs. As a result, the market place employs at least five thousand people annually.
The market is choked and can no longer accommodate the influx of customers and traders. While trade is forcefully expanding, installed infrastructures are in decay. There is need for infrastructural upgrade and market expansion. Unfortunately, the space is limited and we cannot expand. The other areas that are here are owned by individuals. As a result, some other areas like MB Plaza sprang up and Auto Plaza which were built in response to the need for trading space. The new areas are still being occupied by people from Gudu. Gradually, the market is over-filled now and needs urgent expansion.
What is the volume of trade at the market annually?
A major problem is that the market is unable to expand as a result of the failure of government to respond to our calls for expansion or establishment of new markets.
After a lot of efforts, they agreed to work on the road that leads to the market. Unfortunately, government did not tar the road. As a result, traders suffer daily from the dust generated from motorists plying the un-tarred road. This has caused serious health challenges for traders, some of who have become asthmatic.
We need the government to do more than grading the road, government should complete it. Another problem is that change in government as adversely affected projects that are very important to Gudu Market. When a particular government begins to develop infrastructure, the next government may not be interested in completing the project. Some governments come on board to pursue their own interests, not the interest of society.
Economically, Gudu Market is a major economic hub that caters for at least five thousand taxpaying entrepreneurs. Government also generates no mean revenue from the market.
Trade rules the economy more than any other measure. Unfortunately, government has not been able to create the requisite environment for trade to thrive in Nigeria. For example, the Nigerian Customs Service generates huge revenue from import duties paid by traders.
How would you describe the response of government to the challenge?
We commend Gudu Market Management for their efforts, but we want them to improve their services. They need to work together with the union of traders to address challenges. The management needs to urgently address the challenge of infrastructure decay obvious by deteriorating walls and structures.
We have written to government authorities several times, but the problems remain largely unaddressed as a result of bottlenecks in government and logistic problems. We want government to take urgent steps to address the problem. Government needs not wait for emergencies of building collapse before it steps in to solve the problem. Apart from that, if walls fail, the security of the market becomes compromised. Fire-brigade approach is not the best.
What are the incentives the government is offering domestic traders?
In the civil service, government has been able to cater for basic needs of staff, but has failed to do same for traders. For example, government builds housing for staff for which they pay over time. It is painful that the government makes business climate very tough for traders, thereby making it difficult for them to meet basic needs of life such as housing.
How would you describe the ease with which new trainees are able to establish their businesses?
If commerce must rise in Nigeria, government must provide funding for graduate apprentices who needs funds to start their own businesses. There is hardly any fresh trainee that can fulfill the conditions attached to bank loans; as a result, trainees are unable to begin their trades even years after learning the trade.
When traders are able to assess loans, they will be able to establish their trades and create jobs while paying their taxes. The chain continues to expand in the interest of the economy.
When a boy is born into trade, he learns the trade and establishes his own business and becomes an employer of labour who pays his taxes.
In thriving economies, trade is a major contributor to development. We want Nigeria to earn from this obvious fact. There must be enabling environment for trade backed by incentives from government through bank loans and infrastructure provision and expansion.
Why don’t you encourage private sector investors to take advantage of infrastructural challenges of the market?
As a result of the lack of government’s inability to create enabling environment for trade, private sector investors are not willing to invest in solutions that will solve the problems of infrastructural and security challenges associated with trade in Nigeria. The perennial problem of abandoned policies and projects is another factor that does not encourage the private sector to invest in problem solving.
You may recall that some industries left Nigeria as a result of harsh situation for trade. Among them are Michelin and Dunlop. Some of them left because they could no longer afford to cope with the challenges of poor power supply which seriously hampered their industrial activities. The absence of these industries created jobs losses for some Nigerians as well as negatively impacted the
economy.
