Sir, the plan by the state government to sign MoU with Jaiz Bank to rebuild Jos main market has been generating controversy and causing tension in the state, what is responsible for this?
One of the reasons the government wants to rebuild the market is that it has become a hideout or a Rendezvous For Criminals. They used the place as a hideout to launch attacks on the innocent citizens of the state. Equally, the government noted the importance of the market for driving the economy of the state. As far back as 1989, that market was raking in an average of N18 million a month. Then it was a big source of revenue for the state. That market also engaged a lot of people, directly or indirectly. In other words, it helped to take the youths off the streets. Basically, I will say that was part of our rationale for thinking about how to rebuild the market. Some opposed the rebuilding of the market innocently because they were not well informed. Those ones need to be informed. There are those who oppose it negatively because they don’t want the government to succeed. I want to say that Jaiz Bank will not conform to corruption.
Since the inception of this administration, it has signed quite a number of memorandums of understanding MoU with many financial institutions without any headway. Now why the choice of Jaiz Bank?
You are correct; we have entered into a number of failed Memorandums of Understanding with individuals, banks, and others. Most of them will tell you that we must surrender our sovereign guarantee. That is, your money will be deducted from the source until full payment. And we have learnt our lesson. You recalled the Midland Bank loan that was collected by the administration of the late Chief Solomon Lar. Many viable projects were completed as a result of this, the majority of which are still visible today. But up to today, we are still paying that loan. The point I want to point out is that we are still paying those loans with interest. When we initially try to obtain loan, the interest was high. It was two digits. Those who said they would come with their money to invest, when they came, they said we had to invest 60 percent of the money and they would invest 40 percent. Why are we looking for an investor in the first place if we have up to 60% of the total funds? All over the world now, investment is through PPP. To drive this, you have to look at alternative revenue streams that would come to you at a cheaper cost. Now the question is why Jaiz Bank, Jaiz, comes to the fore on two major grounds.
We felt it was a good source of empowerment for our people. Let us replicate it here. Let me correct the impression that is going round that Jaiz will take 60 per cent of the market and retain the market for forty years. It is not true, Jaiz Bank is not a developer in the first place. The project is akin to contract financing, like the flyover we are building now. It is contract financing. The contractor came with his financier, who is the bank that would help him finance the project. So every month, there is an amount we pay the bank, so in turn, the bank gives him the money, not the state government In this case, Jaiz bank is not a developer of this market at all; Jaiz bank is only a financier to the investor who is building the market. Our role here is to ensure that sixty percent of the shops are sold out. Jaiz Bank has no hand in managing the market or allocation of stalls. The contractor brought the investor. No developer will build the market at the rate at which Jaiz Bank has given us because their rate is N98,000 per square meter, but the rest said they can’t do it like that, but Jaiz bank does it in such a way that the developer makes marginal profits. How do they increase the marginal profit? They try to help developers secure some of these building materials from source; they pay in advance and have all the building materials directly from source. If at the end of the day, 60% of the shops are sold, the developer will make a small profit to repay Jaiz Bank. The allocation will be done by the Jos Market Authority. Jaiz Bank is not a manager of the market at all. Another erroneous impression is that Jaiz Bank is going to maintain the market for forty years. What it means is that the beneficiaries of those markets, who are largely Plateau people, are the ones who pay back the money. For instance, if I buy a shop for N1.8 million, I will source for money, pay and run the shop for the stipulated period of time. Jaiz Bank is not a developer; it is only interested in the number of shops you sell and returns their money and that of the developer.
A committee was set up in 2002 to unravel the causes of the fire incident in the market, but up till today the report has not seen the light of the day. Don’t you think if the government revisited the report it would help in determining what went wrong and also to know if that place is still suitable for a market of such magnitude?
You are quite correct, but since the coming on board of Governor Lalong in 2015, we have been looking and searching but could not lay our hands on the report. There are certain questions we asked ourselves: “Will the market be secured? What is the feasibility of that market? If that market was insured, apparently, the market would have been reviewed now through that insurance. The feasibility study indicates that the place is still viable.
That is why you see people hawking around the area. I want to turn your mind to the Rukuba Road Market, where the government invested so much money to build it. When former Governor Joshua Dariye built it as an alternative market pending when this burned market would be constructed, the Rukuba market came on board. When Jonah Jang took over, he invested heavily in the same market again. Today, sixty percent of the stalls were not occupied. Rather, people will prefer to go to the Ahmadu Bello Way to hawk. The terminus is a full factor by virtue of the fact that it connects so many places; it is a nexus. So the nexus of the city of Jos is Terminus. From there, you can connect to different parts of the state and the neighboring states. We spent a lot of money chasing people out of that area. If you drive them today, tomorrow you will see them there again. To stop all this disorderliness, it is better that we rebuild the market. People from all walks of life trade there, which tells you that it is the commercial nerve centre of the state. The highest point of interaction and exchange of goods and services is the terminus area.
What is the take of the State Government on the religious dimension attached to the controversy surrounding the rebuilding of the market?
It is being used erroneously because commerce has no religious or ethnic boundaries. If you go to the market, there is nothing like discrimination. You buy whatever you want to buy, not minding whether the person is of your religion or not. I don’t think commerce is done along ethnic or religious lines. Why does it work in one place but they said it will not work ? Is it that our own Christianity is different from their own? We are surprised that some people have come up with the assumption that Jaiz Bank will use this to Islamize Plateau State. How can this be possible in this century? But in terms of commerce, we have been doing things together. We have seen Muslims that have been donating to churches. Former Governor Ahmed Muazu contributed to the building of Khal Kum University. He went through a missionary school, and he appreciated it. If Engineer M.I Musa in Jos East roofed a church there, would Christians accept it or reject it, saying he was going to Islamise the people? I think people just want to use religion to cause division and get cheap popularity. The future of our people should not be diluted by commerce or trade. The rebuilding of the market is supposed to be a source of unity for all of us. We should shun primordial sentiment.
The Governor has asked members of the State House of Assembly to consult their various constituencies on the rebuilding of the market. If, at the end of the day, the people still say no, what would be the next line of action?
The governor was elected by the people. He is a true democracy, and that is why he told them to consult their constituencies. He is a true democrat. If we find out that out of the 24 constituencies majority or two/thirds said we do not want the state government to sign the MoU with Jaiz Bank of course the governor is a democrat. But on the other hand if two/thirds agreed it was a viable project, of course he would go ahead with the project.
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