The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture says the private sector is the best representative of the country’s business capabilities and not the ministries or agencies of government.
The President of NACCIMA, Dele Oye, in an interview with Sunday PUNCH, urged the Federal Government to recognise the private sector as the country’s biggest salesmen and as important in local investment as well as in foreign direct investment.
Oye said, “If the government understands that we are their biggest salesmen; take, for example, the Free Trade Zone, they have a club worldwide, and if one is making money here, he will tell everyone, ‘Nigeria is good’ and all of them will start coming down.”
He emphasised that ideally, the government was meant to be minimally involved in attracting business investments, stating “Government has no business running all over the world. We are their best spokesmen.
“And that is why we told them, all these NNPC go here, Ministry go here; they (government bodies) don’t exist outside Nigeria. The highest a government agency can do is to do a meeting inside the embassy,” he stated.
The NACCIMA president claimed the government had a practice of relegating businesses and their associations to the background, noting “They (government) cannot go and say they are doing a meeting with the private sector abroad. Are they in the private sector? This is an anomaly.
“That is why NACCIMA has stopped travelling with them so that they can focus on their iniquity. I cannot travel with the president and be a guest at an event I should be hosting.
“They are to facilitate us. And that is the beginning and end of what we are saying, that you have tried for us, but it is not working because the other party is laughing at us and you. Let’s do it properly.”
However, Oye clarified that while the “government has no business in business as there’s enough work for the government to provide enabling environments to the regulatory framework and the appropriate laws and (tackling) insecurity”, the government has a role it plays.
“We are not saying the government does not play a role,” he added. “Government investment can catalyse it at times, but once they come in and stabilise, they pull back so that we can have the initiative of the private sector to drive policy and also drive investment.”
Further, Oye argued that the private sector is capable of driving local investment as much as foreign investors who the government appeared to spend more money travelling out to seek.
He lamented the unpleasant nature of the relationship the private sector has with some corners of the government, stressing, “the biggest problem we have is the imperial nature of certain government agencies. They think we are inferior to them. When they see a barber from abroad because he has white skin, they will say the man is an investor. Where is the investment? They should show us all the commitment.
“They have been collecting billions. Let them show us the factories. People are not asking.”
According to the NACCIMA president, Nigeria’s tax yields and the Nigeria Customs Service revenue prove the capacity of local investment, while businesses battle with productivity challenges, “The Federal Inland Revenue Service said they’ve collected N18.5tn from the private sector from taxes while Customs has done over N5tn.
“We are the ones producing that; it’s like you are not feeding the poultry and you are complaining that there is no production.
“Go around Nigeria; the road to every factory is bad. The road that leads to the productive sector in Nigeria is one of the worst roads in Nigeria.
“All of us here, we generate (our power), we do infrastructure, we do security, we do borehole. So what do you want us to do? This is the reason why we are not competitive. The man in Ghana produces at a lesser cost than us.”
The NACCIMA president also faulted the impact of increased electricity tariffs and multiple government taxation: “They will now add the Band A (electricity tariff) on top.
“At my end, I don’t have a sign board for my business. If you have (a signboard), you see three to five agencies from the local government – I’m not even talking about the State yet — stand and write up (complaints for levies).”
Oye pledged NACCIMA’s support to the government, emphasising “Our job is to encourage every government agency so that we all succeed together. We don’t enjoy abusing any person. It is when we advise you, lobby you, basically do something, that’s when you see we put it in the papers.
We know the implications if the government does not succeed. Our job is to make sure the government succeeds so that we can succeed.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, on Friday, met with the leadership of NACCIMA in Lagos to partner with the private sector group.
Oduwole pledged to deliver a framework for working with NACCIMA by January 2025, asserting “We are determined in the eight-point agenda to partner with you to deliver for the Nigerian people and economy.
“We have a lot ahead of us but with this type of open collaboration and sharing, I can assure you that with the concrete steps that we’ve agreed, we will see a marked change in the relationship.
“You’ll hear from us formally in the coming weeks, and even in January, I’ll make sure – you have my word – you see a change starting from January.”
