Eleganza Group Chairman, Chief Rasaq Okoya has bared his mind on the challenges facing industrialists in the country.

He said; “Power is one of the most important things affecting industries in Nigeria. Power should be stable.”

“Power is the most important factor. It is the major factor. It is a major factor. I have 35 hectares of factory land. The operations depend on power. If there is power, you can generate over 2,000 employments.”

“With stable power, you have 10 times of that. With power, we can do more. The challenge of power has to be tackled. The level of power now is not encouraging. It should be improved. It is a major challenge.”

“Everyone cannot afford to have his own plant. No. The small and large scale industries need power. The generator you buy, within a year, will wear out. So, we need power.”

Nigeria lacks professional artisans like carpenters, welders and bricklayers because we didn’t train them. If you have a small scale industry, like 30 by 40, about 1,000 units, yearly in all the states, and you provide accommodation for them nearby, two-bedroom, one-bedroom, and for security reasons, you can have a mini-barrack nearby; you have training schools which focuses on the major materials we need, furniture, pharmaceuticals. You train these people.”

“You contact important countries that have all these machine tools, China, India that have these small machine tools. You give to these people as a loan, at a small price. They will be paying gradually with low interest. Believe me, all these things can be realised.”

“As an industrialist, you advertise. You can get good wood maker. You are a builder. You cannot get good bricklayer and carpenters. And we have wood. We have everything. They are not trained.”

“We have to depend on neighbouring countries. We need them, but they are not trained. A small school will train them. We give them machines for work. After their first degree, they can be trained. Believe me, you will get what you want.”

“Many of the youths are not in the right direction. So, it is time now to bring them to what the country really needs. And then plan to finance them. It is not expensive. It does not involve big money. These machines are very small.”

“You loan it to them. They payback within two or three years. And then become somebody that is important. They can expand big on their own.”

“We need more vocational and technical colleges in the country. If you build all these industries, you can come back to them with your first degree? Why? You are an accountant. You are a lawyer.”

“What is the use of your degree, unless you have your law firm. But, these artisans are going to employ most of these graduates; accountants, and lawyers. They will employ them. So, we need these artisans to grow the economy. Therefore, our technical schools and colleges are not enough.”

“Government can tackle unemployment by first making light stable. Second, get all these small scale industries; 30 by 40 ready across the states. Provide accommodation for their workers. For security reasons, get a mini barrack nearby.”

“Get the needed country; China. They bring their machines. You loan them. It is not expensive. They will start gradually. One person you train will employ many others. If they exist across the states, the rush to cities will not be there. An idle hand is a devil’s workshop.”

“Agriculture is good. But agriculture is not sufficient. Let some people be in agriculture. Let other people be in mini-industries. If you have agriculture progressively the way we have it and we have these mini-industries, of course, our problems will be solved.”

“The solution to #EndSARS protest is to keep youths busy. Let them have something doing. Give them hope. The hope is that every state should have this unit of factory. They won’t migrate to Lagos and Abuja. Most of them will like to be in their states, where they are well equipped.”

“It is good to have investors. But, our youths will benefit, if you do these small, cottage industries. They will cover a number of products which the foreign investors are coming to do for us. So, we should be less dependent on these foreign investors. Our youths will cover a lot of grounds for us.”

“We should train them. With that, we will depend less on these foreign investors. We have petroleum. We have petro-chemicals. We have the materials. It is a necessity. But, we should build ourselves and depend less on them.”

“The cottage industry is the only solution. I grew up under my father, a tailor. It was a cottage industry. That is why I sewed, moulded blocks myself.”

“So, the cottage industry is the answer. Let’s create 1,000 units in each state yearly. People will not migrate into Lagos and all these urban centres. That is our problem. It will reduce traffic. It will save many things. Our problems will be solved. There will be no insecurity and armed robbery. If you have a good job, you will not think of becoming an armed robber.”

– Source: The Nation