The Nation Newspaper

Tag: private sector partnership

  • Oyetola seeks private sector partnership in infrastructure growth

    Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola has urged the public sector to continue to join hands with the government in the provision of infrastructure.

    He reaffirmed the commitment of his administration to the delivery of economic and overall growth through provision of facilities for the people’s benefit.

    The governor, who described good road network as a catalyst for economic emancipation and rural development, spoke during the flag-off of the rehabilitation of 3.8km Ile-Ogbo-Iwo Road in Ayedire Local Government Area.

    The road is being rehabilitated by Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Limited as part of its corporate social responsibility.

    Oyetola said his administration remained resolute to deliver good road networks to the metropolis and to open up the rural areas to boost their economic power, enhance the value of their businesses and farm produce and generally add value to their lives.

    He said his administration had in the last three months embarked on construction and rehabilitation of several kilometres of road to enhance socio-economic activities of the people and to make lives more meaningful and abundant for the citizens.

    He hailed Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Limited for supporting the state through project.

    The governor said: “Partnering the Federal Government, foreign investors, corporate organisations and well-meaning philanthropists is one of the strategies of this government to deliver massive development to the people in this period of national economic dire straits.”

    He appealed to well-meaning Nigerians and illustrious sons and daughters of Osun to buy into the dream of his government targeted to making lives better for the people by embarking on community projects.

    Oyetola added: “Delivering development to our people is a holistic venture targeted at all the sectors of the economy.

    “As you are all aware, massive overall development of our dear state is one of the cardinal objectives of this government and with this flag off, a foundation has been laid for communication, economic and transportation enhancement among the people of Ile-Ogbo, Iwo and their environs.

    “I am happy that Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Limited has keyed into this vision, especially in the area of road rehabilitation which is central to rural and economic development.

    “Today’s flag-off of the Ile-Ogbo-Iwo Road is a plus to the avowed commitment of our government to deliver economic and overall development to the people of the State, especially people in the rural areas.”

    He listed some of the ongoing road projects in major towns like Ede, Ilesa, Ile Ife, Ikirun, Iragbiji, Osogbo, among others.

     

  • Why ALGON’s private sector partnership on agriculture should be sustained

    The importance of agriculture to the development of Nigeria cannot be over-emphasized.

    Previous administrations in the country as well as various stakeholders have at different for a harped on the significance of exploring the agricultural angle for the development of Nigeria, but the required blueprint to make it a reality has eluded the country leading to the current situation where a great potential has been reduced to a miserable reality.
    Nigeria is an agrarian society with agriculture contributing about 24 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
    With an estimated population of 160 million people, it is instructive to note that about 70 percent of this population, which is roughly about 112 million, live in rural areas and depend on agriculture for livelihood.
    The worrisome aspect of the entire scenario is that a sizeable number of this population, 7 percent to be precise, are undernourished.
    The Global Hunger Index (GHI) in the last two decades ranks Nigeria 84 out of 118 counties with a score of 25.5 (IFPRI, 2016). While ordinarily, this should be viewed in the positive light as it indicates a slight improvement on the rating and raises hope of a possible rise in the standard of living, the reality is that a dark cloud still hangs on the horizon for the Nigerian agriculture.
    The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) definitely piqued by this grim reality initiated an action aimed at developing the agricultural sector and setting Nigeria on the path of economic prosperity.
    Outgoing national president of ALGON, Hon. Ibrahim Ahmad Karaye, who has many times noted the significance of agriculture to the overall well-being of the country, had to think outside the box to churn out workable blueprint to achieving a boost in the sector, by moving the sector away from the over-reliance on government to bring in the private sector.
    It should be noted at this stage that one of ALGON’s goals is to help eliminate hunger through initiatives that help small scale farmers move from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture so as to ensure enhanced security for the farmers, increased and sustainable food supplies and measurable economic growth in developing nations.
    The ALGON President explained that “in the recent past, Nigerian agriculture has witnessed insufficient and wastefully expensive costs of procurement, stocking and distribution of agricultural products and is presently facing several challenges which has consequently undermined socio-economic growth thereby constituting threat to the Federal Government of Nigeria’s “Vision 2020”.
    After making a commitment that ALGON under his leadership is committed to addressing these challenges, he wrapped it up by adopting a bottom-up approach through a comprehensive local agriculture plan, now known as C-LAP.
    C-LAP is an integrated and participatory action plan for the development of LGAs in agriculture and allied sectors and is meant to prepare a Comprehensive Local Agriculture Plan (C-LAP) through participatory process involving various organizations and stakeholders.
    It also establishes linkages with the required institutional support services, like credit, technology transfer, ICT, research and evolve an action plan for achieving sustainable agricultural growth with food security and cropping system that will improve farmers’ income.

    The ALGON president stated recently that through the partnership, C-LAP will create 10,000 direct jobs and over a million indirect jobs in the next five years and will also generate over a trillion naira in wealth at the grassroot level thereby stemming the tide of rural to urban migration.
    C-LAP will also lead to the creation of a mega food park for agricultural processing in each state, a network of structured farmer’s market in each LGA for the sale of farm produce and a branded grocery retail chain that will be franchised across the country. According to Hon. Karaye the ultimate aim of ALGON is to take this mammoth agricultural enterprise to the Capital Market in 5 years.
    The plan which has since begun to show signs of fruitfulness involves the 774 LGAs in the 36 States of the federation for the five year period.
    The partner in the initiative, C-LAP on its part assesses current agricultural potential in each LGA by understanding its production patterns, marketing and other factors that will either constrain or provide opportunities for future growth of agriculture and advice ALGON based on that.
    Also due to fragmented food processing facilities in Nigeria, it evaluates the opportunities for value addition by establishing food processing industries in the LGAs and will design Food Mart Retail Chain Model to create a network that delivers the agricultural produce straight to the door step of the consumers as well as strengthen the entire value chain from seed to plate with a shorter value chain as well as ensuring the remunerative prices to the farmers and availability of quality food stuff at their door steps without any additional cost at competitive prices.
    Further details of the partnership indicates the project outcome would be achieved though project management consultancy, procurement of agricultural tools, equipments & tractors, involvement of international experts, liaison with other levels of government, international partners and other stakeholders and will be managed by 3 implementing agencies while each LGA will have a team of five agri-professionals.
    The major outcome will be agricultural sustainability, employment opportunities and 2000 direct job creation/LGA, women empowerment, demonstration of farm mechanization, establishment of integrated model farms, enhancing the quality of life and self reliance as well as export to neighboring countries.
    The outgoing ALGON president also explained at inception that the project will aggregate the produce from 774 farms across the country and will be the bigger producer and supplier of Nigeria with efficient supply chain and logistics and linking these farms to a national retail chain, wholesale markets and mega food parks will result in enhancing the net income.
    With these tangible results, it becomes clearer why the policy should be sustained.
    Luckily, the Nigeria Governors Forum under the leadership of the Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulazzez Yari has keyed into initiative.
    Realizing the importance of involving the grassroots, the governors have lent their support to the project and this has gone a long way to drive the initiative to the point where it is able to impact positively on the economy. What is needed now is to sustain so that it would run its full course and impact its advantages at the maximum level on every sector of the economy.
    More so as it tallies with the focus of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration to diversify the economy and move away from the over reliance on oil.
    Oteniya is a researcher and agriculturist from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria.

  • NASS, private sector partnership key to economic development, says Saraki

    NASS, private sector partnership key to economic development, says Saraki

    Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday said collaboration between the public Sector, especially the National Assembly, and the organised private sector is crucial to  the nation’s economic development.

    Saraki while addressing the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Kyari Bukar who led other members of the board on a courtesy visit to his office in Abuja said: “The truth is that if we are going to build a strong economy, we in the public sector cannot do it without strong collaboration from the private sector and the level of collaboration has to be at this (highest) level.

    “It has to be at this level because we need to understand what the issues are and we need to be able to address them and buy into them as an agenda before us.”

    He said the Senate is already looking at some laws that are relevant to economic growth with the aim of bringing them up to date in view of present realities. JJust today, we were talking about the railway sector and we found out that we are looking at a law that was enacted since the 1950s.  So, why are we surprised that we are not getting the necessary investment in the railway sector? And I am sure it goes across other sectors of the economy”, he said.

    He added: “We have identified the bills that will impact on our economy, growth and employment. We will fast-track them and try as much as possible to pass them as soon as possible. That is the commitment we are giving you.

    Earlier, Bukar noted that most Nigerians are yet to fully comprehend the role of the legislature since it remains the newest among the three arms of government.

    He said the NESG is willing to work with the National Assembly to establish a framework of continuous engagement with the citizenry and the private sector to get a better understanding of the nation’s legislative process.

    He said: “One simple tool that can quickly be harnessed is that of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to ensure public information of all bills and their status on the National Assembly website.”

    He also urged the National Assembly to ensure that all obsolete laws in the country are repealed and re-enacted to enhance national purpose and development.

    Bukar said: “A cursory look at all laws in Nigeria will reveal plethora of laws that were automatically inherited from our colonial masters, and as a result are not only irrelevant in our society today, but also impede development.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Ambode seeks partnership on health challenges

    Ambode seeks partnership on health challenges

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Thursday promised to support massive investment in modern medical equipment to meet the health challenges of residents of the state.

    Ambode, who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, made the promise at the inauguration of Clinix Healthcare, an Ultramodern Diagnostic Centre in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos.

    He said that private sector participation in healthcare delivery, had complemented efforts of government and yielded tremendous dividends through qualitative healthcare.

    “We are delighted that the private sector partnership has yielded another state-of-the-art health facility, with the opening of this ultramodern diagnostic centre.

    “Medical diagnosis is the bedrock of effective treatment. With more facilities like this, we can achieve accurate and quick diagnosis of ailments and proffer immediate treatment.

    “As a government, one of our objectives is to curb the incessant travels abroad for diagnosis and treatment, through our Medical Park Project, that will make Lagos State a destination for medical tourism.

    “I am reassuring the business community of our commitment to encourage investment in critical sectors, through appropriate incentives and support,’’ he said.

    Ambode urged residents to take their health seriously, by going for regular checks for prompt detection of ailments and treatment.

    Dr Modele Osunkiyesi, Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Health, urged the centre not to compromise the quality of services.

    Osunkiyesi said that quality and accurate health diagnosis was the key to detecting ailments and treatment, to secure the health of the people and reduce mortality.

    In his remarks, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Chairman, Clinix Healthcare, said that the desire of the centre was to provide world class healthcare service and reduce medical tourism.

    Ighodalo urged government at all levels, to support and create enabling environment to encourage the private sector to complement government’s efforts.

    “Our goal is to provide quality healthcare for our people, save lives and help stem the waste of resources through medical tourism.

    “We also call on governments to focus on public-private partnership in the health sector as a national vision, by creating the enabling environment and joining hands to make this a reality,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the first Clinix Diagnostic Centre located at Ilupeju ,was inaugurated in 2006, making the Amuwo Odofin centre the second.