The governors of Ogun, Nasarawa and Kaduna states, Ibikunle Amosun, Nasir El-Rufai and Tanko Al Makura, have come to a consensus that until states are given some form of autonomy, to be self-sustaining and an enabling environment for doing business is created so that states can generate revenues internally, they will continue to seek funds from the government.

Speaking at the 2016 Nigeria summit in Lagos, organised by the Economist Events, the events division of the authoritative international magazine, The Economist, the governors in a panel discussion to share their views on what needs to be done to encourage increased investment and sustained growth in the country, see agriculture, industrialisation and mining as the way forward for a sustained economic growth in the country.

For governor Amosun, serious attention should be directed towards the agriculture sector, where most of the states have advantage while getting skilled individuals to fit into the value chain; which also makes quality education key to all citizens even those with disabilities. He said that his government has made farming attractive to the youths by providing necessary policies that encourage them and interested farmers given lands and implements, granted loans at a much reduced interest rate in order to encourage them. “We need to get our agriculture right. Some of the beneficiaries in our agriculture schemes are now employers of labour”.

Lending his voice also, Governor Al-makura said that his administration would collaborate with investors who are interested in large scale farming that would expand the scope of agriculture. He said his government will support with regard to land acquisition as well as provide certain incentives that would reduce any possible encumbrance companies could face while investing in agriculture and as today that the state is proud to have the largest rice producing factory in the country.

He expressed the belief that with synergy among the states and home grown initiatives, investment in large scale agriculture is one initiative that would fast-track development not just in the state but the nation.

On the issue of industries and manufacturing which the North was known for and whether the North can rise up again to become the nation’s bedrock for industries and manufacturing, the governor El-rufai said that the North does not have a choice but to rise up to the challenge. He recalled that in the 1960s and70s, Kaduna state was referred to as the Manchester of Nigeria, because it has the largest concentration of textiles in the country and in the whole of the West Africa sub region.

He lamented that all but two of these industries have collapsed. “One of the issues that we campaigned for was the revival of Kaduna textiles industry and we have been working round the clock on that.”

The governor alluded to the fact that the textiles industries in the state collapsed for varying reasons. He said that the first was the collapse of agriculture sector, where certain policies worked against favouring the sector, which saw the abolishing of the farmers marketing board during the implementation of the Structural Adjustment Programme, SAP, which left the farmers in the dark; while noting also that cotton farming collapsed because people sought for rent seeking opportunities in cities, especially Lagos. He added that Kaduna state is the highest producer of soya beans with the best ginger in the world. He also hinted that the state has huge presence of solid minerals including gold, which are still untapped. He therefore called for the amendment of the constitution to give room for states to access licence in the mining sector.

The Lagos example

The governors however saw Lagos as a state that should be emulated in terms of certain policies that have kept the state running and working. They agreed that each state should be able to generate its own revenues; though according to them Lagos has the advantage of the population and being the commercial nerve centre of the country which gives it the comparative advantage; with the right legislations in place, well appropriated tax system etc.