The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has urged both the federal and state governments to work in harmony in a bid to improve and stabilize the economy.
Mansur Ahmed, President of MAN, in an address at the 39th Annual General Meeting of the association, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states zone, held at the Mahanattan Hall, Jericho, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, said that to avoid the unpleasant consequences of economic recession reversal against the modest progress recorded since the recent setback occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is necessary for the state and federal governments to work in synergy and carry along stakeholders in fashioning appropriate strategies to improve and stabilize the economy of the country.
Urging government to convene a strategic meeting with key operators in the Nigerian economic space to deliberate and craft a National strategic response to the disruptive impact of the ongoing Russian-Ukraine war on the global supply value chain and it’s debilitating impact on the Nigerian economy, Ahmed said that this would help to identify viable options to ameliorate the impact of the disruption and agree on ways to assuage other pain points in the business environment.
He added that it was important to improve on the time taken to clear containers/cargoes at the ports by ensuring that second trade facilitation equipment such as scanners were available.
He also said that government should enforce, evaluate and monitor the implementation of the executive order 003 to ensure compliance by MDAs.
The acting governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Lawal, who said that MAN had a role to play in job creation, urged the association to redirect its activities towards promoting the economic growth of the state and the nation at large.
Lawal said the state government had been making efforts towards ensuring an enabling business environment by tackling insecurity in the state.
“Federal and state governments as well as other relevant agencies should synergies to fashion out strategies to stabilise and improve Nigeria’s economy,” he said.
The Director of Research, National Institute for Policy and Strategies Studies, Prof. Dung Pam sham, suggested that for public private partnership to be an innovation for manufacturing companies, manufacturers should have good understanding of PPP economy system.
He stated that members of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria must understand the reform objective of government and policy environment, adding that manufacturers also needed to understand the legal, regulatory and institutional frame works.
Dwelling on the topic, ‘Sustainable public private partnership: Disruptive innovation for inclusive growth, Pam sham said that PPP fostered economic growth by developing new investment opportunities and increasing provision of public goods and services.
He advised that MAN should have a code to standardize practices on regulating behaviour of members, stating also that to promote inclusive growth, the state and private sector actors must be patriotic in using PPP to build Nigeria.
The Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti states branch Chairman, Lanre Popoola, in his remarks, noted that businesses were still struggling with the environment still very challenging and toxic.
He stated that despite the economic policies introduced by various arms of government and their agencies, multiple issues like hike in petroleum prices, unstable power and forex were still prevalent thereby making economic planning complicated.
He also lamented the inability of government to harmonize the taxes of local and state ministries, departments and agencies, maintaining that this posed a huge challenge for manufacturers to budget effectively.
He, however, lauded the Oyo State Government, the Oyo State Ministry of Commerce, Industry, Investment and Cooperative; the Oyo State Signage and Advertisement Agency; and the Osun, Ondo and Ekiti states governments for their support to MAN.
In separate goodwill messages, Adenike Ademujimi, who represented Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State; and Muyiwa Olumilua who stood in for the Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, pledge the support of their various state governments to MAN to realize the objectives.
