Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Wednesday in Lafia commended Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa’s vision, political will and strides at industrialising the state.
Osinbajo gave the commendation at the Nasarawa State Investment Summit where he said Sule cast the vision in the early life of his administration to rearrange the state for rapid industrialisation.
He particularly commended Sule for entrenching several reforms like the Public Procurement Act, Central Billing System and Ease of Doing Business scheme.
He noted that these birthed the establishment of the Nasarawa State Investment Development Agency.
Osinbajo described NASIDA as a one-stop-shop for the registration, promotion and facilitation of investments in the state.
He also commended the governor’s sheer determination to boost Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by 66 per cent, which raised the state’s IGR to N12.4 billion in 2020 and N20.3 billion in 2021.
“When you consider the state that started with N1 million in IGR in 1999, you know that this is massive,’’ he said.
The vice-president advised Nasarawa to collaborate with the Federal Government for the enforcement of regulations on solid minerals development to curtail illegal mining so as to benefit tremendously.
He also tasked Nasarawa to take advantage of its vast arable land to invest more in agriculture, especially in sesame seeds, rice and soya beans to become a leading producer of the crops.
Earlier, Gov. Sule said the summit aimed at positioning Nasarawa as an investment destination by 2023 in terms of accelerated growth, increased economic opportunities, social inclusion and improved quality of life.
He said the summit also aimed at promoting investment opportunities and fostering synergy as well as partnerships between government institutions and private sector actors, who are critical players in the socio-economic development of the society.
He noted that the theme of the summit: “Diamond in the Rough: The Making of a New Investment Frontier’’ was deliberately coined in line with the vision and philosophy of his administration.
In a keynote address, Ghana’s former President John Mahama, said while the private sector drove economies, it was the government’s responsibility to install needed infrastructure.
(NAN)
