SIR: Aside the N8,000 cash palliatives to 12 million households as proposed by the government, there is need for distribution of asset-based palliatives to all the local government areas in the country. This will be in the form of establishment of Industrial Development Areas (IDAs) in all the 774 local government areas throughout the country. Such development will create long-term values that are far more beneficial to the people as it will assist existing and aspiring entrepreneurs within the Mini/Micro/Small/Medium space. Distribution of cash, in as much as is necessary and important for certain categories of people, particularly the aged and the physically challenged, may do little to reduce the level of pains associated with the removal of subsidies for many households.
The cash palliatives will disappear few days after each slot albeit the difficulties in recognizing the needy and the most vulnerable within the society. Whereas asset-based palliatives will continue to add wealth by increasing productive activities in a sustainable manner.
Industrial Development Areas (IDAs) are areas mapped out and dedicated for joint use of resources particularly power, water, equipment, machines and tools for production of goods and services. They are used as shared facilities by those who have been trained but who cannot afford funding to purchase the equipment and machines for production. IDA come in in different forms and can be adapted to each local government in accordance with their skill set or raw materials availability associated with a particular location.
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For instance, in each IDA you could have a hub for any of kitchen businesses, cottage industrial park, business incubation centre and production centre etc. Component of IDA will also include facilities for skill acquisition where people are trained to be masters of their vocation.
A palliative of N800b when divided 774 gives N1.03b and to each local government. From this amount each local government can set up a minimum of two functional production centres with installed equipment, machines and tools. Each centre can accommodate a minimum of 500 budding entrepreneurs who in turn will employ a minimum of two assistance who may be any of production staff/keepers/transporters/marketers/salesmen etc. Thus, you have 3,000 jobs created from a single local government which comes to 2,322,000 direct jobs created from all the local government when put together. Projection of additional jobs can be made when the entrepreneurs rotate the use of the facilities for a minimum of four times in a year giving a total of 9.2m jobs.
There are examples of incubation centre in Agege as a federal government hub and pilot project production centres in both Alimosho and Surulere owned by the Lagos State government through the Ministry of Wealth Creation and Employment.
•Akintunde Maberu,
abusiventures2013@gmail.com