TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AVAILABLE OPPORTUNITIES FOR BUSINESS GROWTH, OGUN COMMISSIONER TASKS MSME OPERATORS

The Ogun State Government has charged operators of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to leverage the various initiatives of the present administration geared towards boosting their businesses.

This admonition was given by the Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adebola Sofela at the hybrid stakehokders engagement meeting with MSMEs operators as well as Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) held at Oke-Mosan in Abeokuta and on digital platform.

Sofela said the State government had implemented strategic reforms and initiatives aimed at improving business-enabling environment and increase private sector investments.

He said the reforms were structured to reduce the cost and time to complete business processes, adding that the Prince Dapo Abiodun administration introduced incentives, streamlined business registration processes through automation.

The Commissioner also pointed out that the State government included MSMEs in government contracts with improved access to finance to create a more conducive environment for entrepreneurs.

Sofela further said that the government was promoting digital literacy and adoption of e-commerce platforms among entrepreneurs through partnership with technological companies to provide affordable digital tools and learning to ensure the MSMEs operators in the State are not left behind.

He also mentioned that significant investment had been made in developing industrial parks and business hub and economic zones just as he made reference to the Small Scale industries Land Acquisition Schemes (SILAS) in Ijebu Isiwo, which he said was an initiative of the present administration envisioned to serve as a catalyst for business growth.

“We have introduced various funding windows like the Ogun SME Financial Empowerment Scheme to address the prevailing challenges confronting enterpreneurs and lack of access to finance as well as high cost associated with business operations.

“We are committed to building the capacity of our MSMEs having realized the need for enhanced skills and knowledge in business management, financial planning and marketing among our MSMEs,” Sofela said.

Earlier, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olu. Ola. Aikulola, appreciated the stakeholders for their collaboration, just as he solicited for their cooperation towarss achieving more milestones.

According to him, the Prince Abiodun led government had many more lofty initiatives in the offing and you are expected to key into it any time we call on you.

In his remarks, the National President, Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Dr. Femi Egbesola, who described Sofela as an SME-friendly Commissioner, assured the government of the support of small business owners in the State.

The meeting had in attendance the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Ogun State Signage Agency (OGSAA), Ogun State Internal Revenue Service (OGIRS), Association of Nigerian Women in Business Network (ANWBN).

Others were Cobblers and Leather Artisans Association of Nigeria, Association of Skill and Vocational Artisans Association of Nigeria (ASVAN), Ogun State Chambers of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA), among others.

Court Restrains Governor Aliyu From Sacking Sokoto Monarchs

As dethronement of traditional rulers continue to generate controversies in Sokoto, the state Higher Court sitting, on Wednesday, issued an order restraining Governor Ahmed Aliyu from sacking two out 15 traditional rulers already removed by the government.

The orders were sought separately by Alhaji Buhari Dahiru Tambuwal and Alhaji Abubakar Kassim, the District Heads of Tambuwal and Kebbe respectively.

They were among the 15 traditional rulers earlier removed by the Sokoto State government, on the allegation of insurbodination and aiding insecurity in the state.

The presiding judge, Justice Kabiru Ibrahim Ahmed, however ordered the Governor of Sokoto State, his Attorney General and the
Sokoto Sultanate Council to revert to status quo, pending the determination of the suite filed before him by the complainants, who were represented by Prof Ibrahim Abdullahi SAN.

Justice Ahmed through two orders directed the defendants, their agents servants, privies or assigns or any person acting on their behalves to “maintain status quo and stay all actions and further actions in connection with all matters dealing with and or appertaining to the removal and or dethronement of Districts Heads in Sokoto State”, particularly those of Kebbe and Tambuwal, pending the hearing and determination of the motion for interlocutory injunction duly filed by the two before the court.

The Governor’s Bill
This development is coming in the wake of bill presented to the state House of Assembly by the governor seeking for the amendment of the state Local Government Law, affecting the appointment and disposition of District and village heads and to confer on him exclusive powers to appoint and dethrone traditional rulers in the state.

The sacking of 15 district heads and the proposed bill sent to the state Assembly has generated swift reactions and heated debate across the state and the country, with recent warning to the state government by Vice President, Kashim Shettima while calling on the Sokoto State Government to regard the Sultanate as an institution that must be respected, preserved and protected.

Also, former Vice President and 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar in his reaction, demanded that traditional institutions must be protected from the “excesses of state governors”.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) in two separate statements, warned Ahmed Aliyu to shelve the idea of removing the Sultan of Sokoto or whittling his powers and insisting that the Governor was targeting the monarch and planning to create a parallel Sultanate Council under the guise of the new law.

Sokoto State Legislature has last Wednesday, passed the bill to its second reading and refered the matter to a House Committee.

A public hearing on the controversial bill is scheduled for Tuesday next week.

…describes act as terrorism, politics taken too far

The Afenifere Youth Progressive Front (AYPF) has strongly condemned the dynamite explosion that occurred among the pro-Wike protesters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Tuesday.

The group expressed concern that the purported protest, which was organised by top political leaders from Obio/Akpor to show solidarity for the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, turned violent when one of the protesters died while attempting to detonate a dynamite, causing increased tension in the state.

In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Adelowo Rotimi Johnson, AYPF stated that the actions of the pro-Wike protesters were “completely unacceptable.”

Johnson described the act as “terrorism and an extreme form of political expression.”

He said the incident is a stark reminder of the dangerous trajectory that politics has taken in Nigeria.

Johnson urged the Federal Government to immediately distance itself from “this wicked and callous behaviour by rascals” pretending to be President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s supporters in Rivers.

He also called on law enforcement agencies to fish out the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

“The Afenifere Youth Progressive Front (AYPF) totally condemns the fatal dynamite explosion that occurred among the pro-Wike protesters in Port Harcourt on Tuesday. The heinous act perpetrated by criminals posing as political supporters is totally unacceptable,” the statement said.

“The actions of the pro-Wike protesters is a full-blown act of terrorism and an extreme form of political expression. Their actions have heightened tension in Rivers, forcing peace-loving residents to live in fear.

“Afenifere Youth Progressive Front calls on the Federal Government at this time to distance itself from this wicked and callous behaviour by rascals who are pretending to be President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s supporters in Rivers State.

“Their actions do not in any way represent the Renewed Hope agenda of the Asiwaju’s administration.

“We also call on the law enforcement agencies to fish out the armed protesters and prosecute them in order to address the issue of recurrent criminality in the state.

“The AYPF urges Rivers people to remain calm and be security vigilant in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the state by the armed pro-Wike protesters.”