Survival of Businesses-Government should create an enabling environment-NECA/MAN DGs

The Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) has appealed to the federal and state governments to create an enabling environment for Nigerian-owned businesses to thrive and survive.

This appeal was made by the Director General of NECA, Mr. Adewale Smart Oyerinde on Wednesday at an interactive session organized by NECA for its members and other stakeholders in Oyo state in Ibadan, Nigeria.

''The federal and state governments should create an enabling environment to allow businesses to thrive and survive. The government must see the organized private sector as an integral part in development issues. "We need regulation to drive our economy. "We are not averse to regulation. 'You can count on us to promote the Oyo state economy to drive investment into the state's economy,'' the NECA DG stated.

Similarly, the treasurer of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria(MAN), Mr. Sunday .A, who represented the Director General, also appealed to the Oyo state government and the legislature to include MAN in the decision-making and policy formulation process pertaining to businesses in the state.

''We want the state House of Assembly to collaborate with us not for punitive measures, but to make things work. We have high power tariffs, most companies cannot cope, some have reduced  their production to 30 percent, others have folded up. The foreign exchange rates and the interest rates of the banks are not favorable enough. We are law-abiding. If we are going wrong give us advice'', the DG's representative stated.

On its part, the state government disclosed that it has recruited 1290 operators to evacuate refuse, has also prosecuted 1,000 hawkers for environmental sanitation offenses and registered 500 consultants to ensure that sustainable practices are administered in the state.