Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola has criticised the Federal Government for its hypocritical disposition to the solutions of unemployment in the country.
Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy had recently stressed that the level of unemployment in the country was giving the Presidency sleepless nights, saying that the government was doing its best to cut down the number of the country’s unemployed.
Inspecting the Yaba Industrial Estate, which has existed for 59 years, Fashola promised to redevelop the industrial incubator centre and equip it with power from the state’s Independent Power Project (IPP) for easier and cost-effective production.
“I have never subscribed to the grandstanding about employment creation. Employment creation happens only if businesses are doing well,” he said adding that he would immediately begin work to solve the estate’s age-long problem of electricity supply through the Independent Power Project.
Fielding questions from newsmen at the estate after the inspection tour, Fashola was optimistic about the possibility of creating a steady power supply for the manufacturers, in order to cut down their cost of production and enable them create jobs for more unemployed people.
Noting that all of the manufacturers he spoke with during the inspection complained of lack of power, Governor Fashola declared: “It is possible to create a steady power supply here. They are doing business; they are producing but they all can do with cheaper power. We have done a similar thing at the Isolo Industrial Estate, where we put up a very big power unit and provided meters for all of the small businesses there.
“As we are developing our Independent Power Projects (IPPs), we are decommissioning big generators. One big generator decommissioned can come here and serve the whole of this place in a much more reliable way.
“It can also be cleaner because they can power it with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) instead of diesel. Those are the kind of solutions we are looking at. We are ready now to work with the manufacturers to make the place more conducive.”
Fashola said his visit to the estate was to see what was on ground so he could return to the office and plan the redevelopment of the place with the inclusion of the original stakeholders. He disclosed that there was a plan to design the future of the estate. He added that government’s plan for the place would also include the relocation of some of the businesses that have outgrown the incubation stage, as some of the manufacturers have the intention to expand but there is no space to expand in the estate.
“Clearly some businesses have outgrown this place. One or two I spoke to want to expand; there is no place to expand here,” he said.
“So we have to create the linkage now from incubation to outright production. So they may have to go to another industrial estate, those who have already fully incubated and hatched.”
Reviewing the history of the estate, Fashola recalled that it started in 1954. “The models here are small-scale incubation businesses and production factories. On the average they have between 10 and 15 employees. It has had quite a long history, chequered history in some cases; success stories here and there.”
The governor was conducted round the estate by Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Mrs. Sola Oworu. Also on hand to receive him were Special Adviser to the Governor on Commerce and Industry, Mr. Oluseye Oladejo; Chairman of Yaba Local Council Development Area, Hon. Jide Jimoh; and other top government officials.
