Borno State yesterday counted its losses to the Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the state for the sixth year running.
In financial terms, up to $6 billion (N2 trillion) has gone down the drains , about 20,000 people killed and two million others displaced,Governor Kashim Shettima said on the second and final day of the First National Economic Forum organised by The Nation in Lagos.
In an emotion-laden documentary on the Boko Haram terror which moved participants at the forum to tears, Shettima detailed the massive carnage and destruction of property in the state.
He said the $6 billion financial losses do not include losses incurred by local and international businesses located in the capital city, Maiduguri. He said before the insurgency, a branch of one of the tier one banks in Maiduguri was processing over a billion naira daily, the biggest cash centre in the country.
Despite the challenges in the state, Shettima gave hope of creating a new Borno State. He showed the immense reconstruction activities going on in the state where the displaced persons will be rehabilitated.
He said he has started to redevelop education by motivating pupils through feeding. He cited a school with enrollment of less than 100 pupils but when he introduced feeding there, the enrollment jumped to over 700.
He said his state has the second largest land mass in country, therefore, has enough land for farming but regretted that the state known for its huge agricultural potential with prosperous farmers, has become a shadow of its self with former big time farmers turning to beggars.
He noted that there is a direct correlation between poverty and insurgency, youth unemployment and insurgency, militancy in the Niger Delta and lack of skill and unemployment.
On how he intends to rebuild the once thriving economy of the state, Shettima said he is working on improving the quality of governance by increasing education enrollment as education is a leveler and an equal opportunity instrument.
“Our government has increased funding for education and made it free and compulsory. From practical experience and findings from on-the-spot assessment of our visits to schools, there were large school drop-outs due to poor feeding and paucity of infrastructure especially for the girl-child. We have also introduced a model transportation system that has encouraged more parents to send their children to school as against what we had before,” he added.
The governor said he is currently building three model schools and hospitals in every senatorial zone to stimulate the infrastructure upgrade that would improve the growth and development of the state.
Shettima also said his administration is investing in the health care sector to reverse the present situation where millions of dollars are wasted yearly by Nigerians seeking medical attention overseas. The idea is to harness our resources that would take care of health requirements locally without visiting India or any other place in Europe he said.
He criticized the rate of corruption in the country and berated Nigerians that stole so much and invested their loot outside the country to develop other nations to the extent of stealing funds meant for the army to fight insurgency. He called it immoral and the height of wickedness against ones kinsmen and the nation in general.
On how to rebuild the state power generation outside grid supply, the governor said the state is investing in solar power equipment such as panels and will have in place a solar power plant in the next six months that will produce 40 megawatts (Mw) to rehabilitate micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the state and for use in homes.
Shettima said his idea of governance is to lift the citizens out of poverty and deprivation. For women who have been made widows by the cruel activities of Boko Haram, we will equip each and every one of them with irrigation equipment to empower them to take care of their families, and ensure gender empowerment and girl child education.
Business enterprises seek long term loans with low interest
The Bank of Industry (BOI) asked banks to give micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) long term loans at low interest rate.
BOI General Manager, Joseph Babatunde, made the call yesterday at The Nation’s forum on the economy. He said this would make it possible for businesses to thrive.
He recommended collaboration between BOI, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on the establishment of Collateral Registry,saying the registry would help de-risk the loans coming to MSMEs and encourage lenders to lend to the small businesses.
Babatunde who spoke on the theme: ‘Changing the Face of MSMEs and Entrepreneurship in Nigeria’, said interest on loans should not exceed two per cent.
He admitted that with the plunge in crude oil prices, and continued foreign exchange scarcity businesses are currently facing hard times.
The BOI manager explained that aside the challenge of accessing foreign exchange, counterfeiting and piracy are also a challenge faced by small businesses.
He said the CBN’s N220 billion MSMEs fund has helped many small businesses access credit at single digit, with significant part of the fund going to women entrepreneurs. He said the BOI is also working closely with CBN and banks to reduce taxes paid by MSMEs.
Meanwhile, the former commissioner for finance in Lagos State and Chairman of Board of Vintage Press Limited, publisher of The Nation, Mr. Wale Edun, expressed confidence in the current ability of the Buhari Administration to get the country out of the woods, adding that Nigerians should queue behind the government to achieve the vision.
