The Plateau State economy, which was comatose for decades, is bouncing back to life, thanks to the revival of its firms, reports YUSUFU AMINU IDEGU
Once, Jos, the Plateau State capital, was the place to be. Few could resist its scenic ambience and clement weather. Back in time, when the colonialists were around, the Plateau tin mining industry helped to sustain the Nigerian economy. But at independence in 1960 the colonialists withdrew, and the tin industry shrank. Local mining hands lost their jobs.
Upon its creation in 1975 Plateau State turned to agriculture but much of its land had been devastated by mining activities. Only such firms as NASCO Group and UAC prevented an economic disaster in Plateau. A boost came through the establishment of Jos International Breweries Plc (makers of Rock beer), Highland Bottling Company, Bark Farms, and Plateau Hotels, among others. The Jos Modern Market raised the commercial profile of the state. But over time, inconsistent government policies killed the new firms. In the case of the modern market, fire was its undoing. Even NASCO has weakened to the point of irrelevance. The famous Hill State owed its workers 27 months’ salary.
The state economy was in ruins, with only the government being the major employer of labour, giving Plateau the status of civil service state.
One major consequence of the slide was the large army of idle youths who became ready tools in the hands of unscrupulous politicians. In 2001 those youths played a major part in the violence which threw the once peaceful state into a theatre of war.
Things are changing, thanks to Governor Simon Lalong who took office two years ago. Lalong came with a promise and determination to turn the state’s ailing economy around. The government set up an economic team of experienced entrepreneurs chaired by Mr Ezekiel Gomos, a former Secretary to the state government and managing director of Jos Business School. The economic team’s brief was simple: revive the state’s economy.
Their effort is yielding fruit. Several firms are coming back to life.
Gomos said, “The state-owned investment company that used to drive the state’s economy in the past was the first to be revived so that it can play a leading role in this economic revival. I am talking of Plateau Investment and Property Company (PIPC). This company itself was neglected by past administrations and that made previous attempts to revive the state economy difficult. But when we realised the important role of PIPC, we decided to start from there. So we had to properly reposition PIPC to be able to perform its statutory role as expected of it. One of the things we did in terms of properties that we are very proud of is the Gwarimpa Housing Estate in Abuja. PIPC acquired the properties from government in the year 2000. It was acquired by PIPC as a way of property investment. At a point the houses were allowed to deteriorate by those who managed it in the past, the houses got so bad that nobody wanted to live in them. Out of the ten houses, previous governments sold two and allowed the remaining eight to deteriorate. By the time we came two years ago, there were suggestions that we sell them, but even if you wanted to sell them you had to renovate them first. So the technical board embarked on the renovation and today they are all occupied by tenants, and we have not sold them.
“When we came in we were able to track some of PIPC’s investments and we’ve been able to recover them. When you recover an investment of about N150 million, which was believed to have been lost, definitely it is an achievement one can be proud of.
Speaking further, Gomos said, “To those who may not know, PIPC has capital market section, we introduced stock broking in 1994 when a lot of people in this state did not know anything about buying and selling of shares. But the section also collapsed in 2009 during the period of global economic depression. You know Nigeria was not spared in that global economic shakeup, same factors that affected capital markets in the entire country also affected that of PIPC. The good thing is that PIPC securities never lost their license unlike many brokers firm in the country, all we are doing now is to see how we can wake up businesses again, especially now that the country is gradually recovering from the recess.
“But as it is now, this is the right time to buy shares as the global market economy improves gradually.
“The economic team has put up several ailing state companies and made them active again so that they can help provide jobs for our teeming youths. But it is not easy to revive an ailing industry, it is easier to start a new one, but if you must start an old one, you need to take necessary steps. It takes longer to revive old companies especially the one that has debts on it, aging plants, unpaid workers’ salaries, etc.
“However, Highland Bottling Company is already producing, they have employed more than 100 workers, they are planning to expand very soon. This administration has invested N20 million to bring the company back to life.
“Now the JIB is the biggest of them all, we have completed the plant audit, this involved checking each of the equipment and ensuring its working condition, whether the equipment is outdated or useful, and whether any investor will want to continue with those plants. So for any investor to take over the company all these investigations have to be done. The investor expects the results of these investigations for him to compare with what is on the ground.
“The main market itself is not a profit-driven investment; it was owned 100% by the state government and managed by an agency known as Jos Main Market Authority, which reported to the state Ministry for Commerce and Industry. When the market was burnt, the market authority also ran out of business. Now the present government does not have the cash to rebuild the market, which has been estimated to take up to N5 billion to rebuild. That is why government opted for private public partnership (PPP). Government advertised and has gotten one experienced consultant who has done similar project in various countries in Africa.
“When all the ailing industries are fully revived, the state will no longer be called a civil service state, it will be called an industrialised state. Massive training of youths in entrepreneurship has commenced in the state because a lot of businesses are going to be generated by the industries and we need to get our youths ready to be the businessmen. They will be made to start with small-scale businesses and gradually grow to large-scale businesses. We believe that industrialisation is not just about industries, it is also about entrepreneurs.”
The popular Hill Station Hotel has also been revived.
Gomos said, “We have spent about N250 million to renovate it, much of that money went into settling debts, the famous hotel has been abandoned for over a decade, they have several months of unpaid salaries, to the level that the labour union dragged the hotel management to court over unpaid salaries. The court virtually closed down the hotel because the court ordered the auctioning of all properties of the hotel to settle unpaid staff salaries. As at then, the Plateau State government had only about 20% shares of the hotel. But the last administration bought additional shares and now the state holds about 75% of the hotel. So the hotel is more or less that of Plateau State government. The intercom of that hotel has not been working since the last seven years, and you can imagine what anyone lodging there will face without intercoms services. There were no TVs. But with the N250 million invested in the hotel by the present administration, the hotel has been turned around. It has about 170 rooms; we have renovated over 100 rooms, we have renovated the entire structure of the hotel and it is now looking new. The new GM is another experienced guy who has worked in Transcorp. Everything about the hotel has been changed including the service staff; now they look corporate and neat with their name tags. The staff were owed 27 months’ salary before we came, we have reduced that significantly. As result, tourists are back to the hotel as usual.
“As chairman of the state economic team, I know that several investors have indicated interest in Plateau Hotel, Solomon Lar Amusement Park, Jos Wild Life Park, Jos Rock Hotel on which we are about sign a MoU. A German investor wants to take it for 30 years.
“There is a lot of investment in the agricultural sector but the role PIPC plays there is to re-acquire the Bark Farm for agricultural purposes. A foreign company has asked for 1000 hectares of the land for processing of agricultural products.”
Some believe the state governor has already started an economic revolution in the Plateau.
