By Francis Ogwo
Kwara State Government would generate N35 billion monthly through Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the state Governor AbdulRaman Abdulrazaq has said.
According to him, small and medium scale enterprises are important in any effort to build a strong and sustainable economy.
Speaking in Ilorin at a meeting with businessman, Tayo Amusan, Governor Abdulrazaq said the government would support small businesses, including those affected in the recent looting of public and private properties in Ilorin.
In his words: “Our plan is to build a strong economy. We aspire to build an economy like that of Lagos, which has an IGR of about N35billion monthly. That’s about what we generate here in a year. So, we want to scale up our IGR and it is the businesses like what you are doing here (Kwara Mall) that will help us to scale up.
“You are an investor and I know with what happened, you will be disappointed. But I urge you not to lose hope but to forge ahead, stay with us and continue to invest in Kwara. What happened does not represent our character.
“You have built a mini-economy in Kwara by anchoring Shoprite and other small and medium enterprises that have sprung up around Kwara Mall. That fits into our programme of building an enterprising state. Kwarans are enterprising. You will see Kwarans all over the country doing very well.”
Amusan hailed the governor’s show of concern and swift response following the attacks.
He advised Nigerians against making public and private businesses scapegoats of attacks during crisis, saying such actions constitute threats to economic growth.
“I am concerned about ordinary entrepreneurs, the small and medium entrepreneurs. The persons that have hair dressing salon, selling small materials or those who just open businesses there.”
“Shoprite is another firm I feel for because this is the second time it will be attacked (not in Kwara alone, but elsewhere in the country). The first time was during the xenophobic attacks. A number of places were attacked and they are almost fed up. We have to keep on appealing to them.
“I appeal to Nigerians that we should not destroy ourselves. This is not it. I was at the mall and I saw some of the workers there, doing nothing. I must say, we will recover. We will try and see that some shops return before the end of the year,” Amusan said.
Speaking also was the The mall’s Portfolio Manager, Ajibola Sobande, who described the incident as unfortunate, saying at least 39 brands were affected at the mall alone.
She said: “It was an unfortunate incident. The event of that day cannot be underestimated. We thank Your Excellency because we called and you answered us. We did lose properties, but we are grateful that nobody died. We want to say thank you for being there.
“Our hope is to get people back to their businesses because we have over 39 brands at the mall. They are medium and small enterprises besides the Shoprite.
“We are hoping that things will get back to normal.”
Kwara Mall was part of the numerous points of attack by protesters during the recent #EndSARS protest, which was widely assumed to be hijacked by hoodlums.
