Kwara State has dedicated a whole ministry to enterprise as part of its larger strategies to grow businesses, encourage creativity, create more jobs and widen revenue generation base of the state, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has said.
The Governor said a culture of waiting for monthly allocation from Abuja is neither sustainable nor pro-development, because it means the majority of the population would be dependent on the money from the centre with little left to drive infrastructural development.
“The fact that salaries consume the larger chunk of our income slows down our development by limiting what we put in capital projects like schools, hospitals and other critical infrastructure. But the way to go is simple,” AbdulRazaq said late Monday during a tour of the multi-billion dollar KAM Holding’s factory In Ilorin.
“Enterprise, through the private sector efforts like what you (KAM Holding) are doing, is what we need to grow our society and increase our GDP and standard of living. This is our focus and it is the reason we changed the Ministry of Commerce and related ones to Ministry of Enterprise. That is our future. If we can do this properly then we will turn this state around and that is our intention.”
Identifying him as the largest private investor in Kwara so far, AbdulRazaq commended the KAM Holding’s proprietor Kamoru Yusuf for investing so heavily in the state and said government would always seek his advice in its entrepreneurial efforts as well as support him to do more for the state.
“Everywhere we go we would talk about you because you have been a great ambassador of our state. We will want others to emulate you. Only a patriotic citizen would do what you have done for our state and Nigeria,” the Governor added.
Yusuf, for his part, commended the Governor for his visit which he described as a morale booster for him and the staff of the conglomerate.
“Your visit will motivate all my team and drive us to do more for our country. Without the heart of sacrifice to your dear nation, it is not easy to be an industrialist in Nigeria today because of issues around the manufacturing sector,” according to the industrialist.
“We thank God that with our over 30 years in this business, we have no cause to regret investing in Kwara State. It is a state of harmony where we have lovely people around and we are contributing to the economy of the state and place the state on the map of the world. No where in the whole world today that they are doing steel manufacturing and they will not have one or two things to do with KAM.
“I’m always bold to say anywhere in the world that I’m a Nigerian because of the privilege and the support I enjoy from the federal and state governments. That also motivates me to do more for my country and it is a pleasure to put the investment in my state where you can walk around without any fear. With KAM Holding, Kwara should not be referred to as a civil service state again. With the project we have here, we are the first black man in the whole of Africa doing this.
“What we have at Jimba-Oja (Kwara) is 40% capacity of what Nigeria has in Ajaokuta. We don’t make noise about what we do but we bring modern technology to our country and the state. We appreciate His Excellency for this visit and whatever you think we can still do based on your experience in business world, we will like you to educate us.”
