Emeka
Ibemere
Positioning on
the border of Nigeria with Benin Republic, is Sango Ota, an outskirt of Ogun State.
It’s flooded with array of companies and among
other establishments prettily located inside the heart of the community, is
former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s farm, popular known as ‘Otta Farm’,
Covenant University, Chelsea IDL establishment, Samjoy Venture’s and several other
companies within the area.
Ordinarily,
it’s supposed to serve as an Industrial Estate of sort, serving as hub of
economic activities to two major states: Ogun and Lagos States.
Butin
Sango Otta, what befall you are skeletons of these companies. Many are under
keys andlocks, while the surviving ones are struggling to make it. As at the
last count, six companies have taken flight to neighboring country in Benin
Republic.
AMEEN
International Gas Limited, Newen Frozen Company and Howen Bakery including
others have eloped to Benin towns where business security
and environment is flourishing and in existence.
Bad
roads and other sundryin-fractural hiccups of development posed threats to
doing business in Sango Otta,despite the fact that it has so many things going
on for it- like the nearness of the International border with Benin Republic, and a major
mega-city, Lagos; the capital of trade and commerce in Africa.
These
comparative advantages of Sango Otta over other communities in Ogun State, has
being hindered by lack of electricity and poor accessible roads, making Sango
Otta ghost industrial estate.
The town which supposed to be booming in
business activities for people in the community to enjoy life is suffering in
abject power supply.
Recently,
some of the businesses have relocated their base to Ghana and Benin republic
where conducive, business environment has been provided.
For
many years in Sango Ottain Ado/Ota Local Government Area, there has been no
power supply in the locality.
Speaking
with our correspondent, Mr Gideon Onukaogu, the Managing Director Samjoy
Ventures, producers of polythene based product such as shopping Bags, carrier bags,
waste bin bags and others shows signs of despondency about continuing business
in the locality.
Onukaogu,
28, studied Computer Aided Engineering at the University of Hertfordshire
University, United Kingdom butlater returned to Nigeria to invest and
contribute his own quota to the economic growth of the nation, shared his
experience with Daily Signpost.
“It has been sour experience and full of
different challenges doing business in Nigerianenvironment”. He said.
“The
ways things are done in Nigeria is quite different from the ways it used to be
in abroad. Notwithstanding, a lot of things needed to be restructured here, so
that each sector of the economy at large could be a better place for every body
and the government”.
Without
mincing words, headvised both the Federal and State governments to provide
constant electricity in the community, because some companies have folded up
due to lack of constant power supply and some will soon fold up if constant
power is not provided in the community.
He also urged the government to
simplify the process of establishing a company in Nigeria, precisely in Ogun
state, so that upcoming investors would be encouraged to venture into different
sectors to contribute to the growth of the state and national economy.
“The tax system should be made in a
way that investors will be absorbed into the community to invest without going
through a rigorous stress”, he added.
“The tax system should be
differentiated among themicro, small, medium and large scale industries. A
small company like ours should not be levieda proportional taxlike the large
scaleindustries in the economy”.
Specking
on the challenges encountered in the area, Onukaogu said. “Ourmajorchallenges
in Sango Otta are bad roads, lack ofelectricity, lack of portable water and many
other infrastructure facilities. I would want the government to rectify the
problem of electricity first, and then other things canfollow”.
In
Sango Otta, an industrial strength of Ogun State, the supply of power in the
areaespecially in the Ado/Otta LGA is on sharing bases and nothing is done to
correct the discrepancies in sharing the light.
‘How
can you be sharing light in an industrial area? Most staffs of PHCNare corrupt;
before they could do anything for you; unless you put down your feet, nothing
is going to be done in your regards’, another business man told Daily signpost.
The
community presently is becoming nothing to write home about, for recent time,
the area has been without power forcing some industries fold up as a result of their
inability to cope with power supply.
‘While
some of the industries are only managing and trying to break even’, according
to Onukaogu, other companies in the locality are managing to survive in midst
of the giants ones in the state capital and Lagos’,‘it is unfortunate that
despite the lack of power supply,Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN) still
bring exorbitant bills at the end of the month for services not rendered. And
we have nothing to do than to pay.But how could we be paying for services not
received”? He queried.
He
opines that the state government should assist the small scale industrialists
who with their own earned little resourcesdecided to come and establish a company
in the country.
Onukaogu
believes that, “when the power sector is fully in order; investors will come
and invest, and the forces of demand and supply will create jobs opportunity
for the jobless youth in the country”, he added.
“Most
of our graduates are jobless and the government cannot afford to provide job
opportunity to these youths alone. But any reasonable youth who in his own
effort decided to establish a company, the government should make life easy for
that person rather than making the sector difficult as the case of Nigeria”. Onukaogu
queried.
“How
coulda new companypower its plant for 24 hoursper- day and survive with the
high cost of the petroleum products in this present economic situation”?
According to him,
“I
have tried to seek a solution to the problem of power failure by consulting
PHCN Ota branch andin my discussion with the PHCN officer, he asked me to
provide a transformer which I told him that my company and some of the small
and medium firms within the environment have provided one.He thereafter asked
me to write in this regard, which I did, but nothing elsehas been done since
then”. He continued.
“Also,
the community leaders are not doing anythingat all, as far as am concern.
Although, I have not met them yet, but what borders me most is that, Covenant
University, Obasanjo’ Ota farm, Chelsea
IDL company and a pharmaceutical company with the environment have constant
power supply but we have been cut off from power. I don’t know how PHCN is
distributing the sharing of power”, he said.
“Sharing
of power should be done in a proportional manner, so that all companies should
benefit from the source of power. It will be unfair for some companies to be
enjoying power supply at the detriment of others”.
According
to him, bureaucracy is a bottleneck, stifling economic growth in the country.
He cited an example whereby in the local government, one has to pay for several
documentations ranging from either trade or commerce to change of files, car
levy, mobile advertisement, etc. “You have
to pay at different time and place for one tax but different payment as the
case may be.Why not simplify all these taxations, so that one could do the
payment at once under trade tax or company tax thereby, reducing the stress of
time and cost wastages”.He counseled. “Double taxation is not fair”
Onukaogu
appealed to the Ogun State government to ensure adequate supply of power in
Ado/Ota local government area, so that micro, small and medium scale
enterprises would survive in the economy rather than folding up due to lack of
constant power supply.
Mr.
Adelabu Olemeye, a sachet water producer, cried out over non-existence of power
in the area. He lamented the cost of running his firms with generator and
wondered what he would make out of it after paying tax and other sundry levies.
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