Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has commended the various intervention programmes being implemented by the Bank of Industry (BoI) to support the growth and development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector.
Osinbajo, who made the commendation at the 5th National MSME Awards Dinner held at the State House Banquet Hall in Abuja, also lauded the efforts of the Bank of Agriculture, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, the Corporate Affairs Commission, the Standards Organization of Nigeria among others in promoting the growth of MSMEs.
Dignitaries at the event included the governors of Ogun and Kano states, Dapo Abiodun and Abdullahi Ganduje; the deputy governors of Edo, Imo and Borno, Philip Shuaibu, Placid Njoku, and Umar Kadafur, respectively.
There were also members of the Federal Executive Council, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha, the Minister of State Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Katagum; and her counterpart in Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba.
A number of heads of federal government agencies such as the managing director of the Bank of Industry, Mr Olukayode Pitan, the chairman of FIRS, Mr Muhammad Mani; director-general of the Standards Organization of Nigeria, Mr Farouk Salim; managing director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Ali Hassan; the registrar-general of CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar;the director-general of SMEDAN, Mr Olawale Fasanya; as well as the representatives of NEXIM Bank, Access Bank and NITDA were also present at the event among others.
The National MSME Awards was introduced in 2018 by the Vice President to complement the activities of the National MSME Clinics.
The Award was introduced to encourage and reward outstanding MSMEs doing business in Nigeria.
The 2022 edition of the Awards is the fifth in the series and it held on the 2022 World MSME Day as declared by the United Nations with entries of 14,020 from businesses across the country.
The Award saw the presentation of various cash rewards and ten vehicles for all the competitive MSME Award Categories, from which ThinkBikes Ltd from Oyo State emerged winner of the Bank of Industry Award of Excellence in Manufacturing.
Speaking at the event, the VP said that the relentless drive, energy and creativity of young Nigerians are the guarantee that the country will prosper and provide jobs and opportunities for the millions of youths coming into the job market yearly.
Praising the steadfastness and contributions of young entrepreneurs who won prizes at the event, the vice president noted that “these MSMEs tell the story of our country’s great economic future.”
According to him, “We are set to manufacture our own vehicles, clean energy trucks and cars, and we are on course to manufacturing our own weapons, armoured mobile platforms and aircraft. We have all it takes.”
While making specific reference to prospects in the manufacturing and technology sectors, the vice president expressed optimism that MSMEs in technology and manufacturing, especially in the clean energy or green economy deserve special mention.
He said, “I am convinced that this sector will be crucial in global industrial development in the coming years and will leapfrog Nigeria to economic prosperity.”
The vice president then commended some of the winners in particular.
He said, “The first is Thinkbikes Limited, the winner of the BOI Award for Excellence in Manufacturing founded by Tolulope Olukokun, which produces solar and battery-run bikes that can go up to 50 kilometres on a single charge.
“The second is Phoenix Renewables Ltd, the winner of the NITDA Award for Excellence in Innovation, founded by Mustapha Abubakar Gajibo. The company designs and builds electric and solar-powered cars, tricycles and also vehicle and engine parts.
“The vehicles are now deployed for public transportation in the Maiduguri metropolis. By April they had conveyed over 21,000 passengers. I had the singular pleasure of driving one of the electric cars when I visited the Phoenix Renewables stand at the Borno MSME Clinic.
“The third is the Clintonel Advanced Engineering Centre, Access Bank MSME of the Year Award winner, founded by Tochukwu Clinton Chukwueke. The company builds high precision parts, moulds, medical equipment, and auto engine parts.”
The vice president reiterated the commitment of the federal government to supporting small businesses by providing the enabling environment for them to thrive.
He said the improvement in the value of prizes given to award winners from an initial one car star prize in 2018 for the MSME of the Year winner to 10 cars to winners in all categories in 2022 is to underscore the significant improvement that has been built between the private sector and the federal government over the years.
Osinbajo, at the event announced arrangements for the establishment of MSME Shared Facility projects comprising the Kaduna State Tomato Paste Production Hub and the Ogun State refurbished Adire market.
“Other facilities are now being established in Gombe, Bauchi, Kebbi, Ebonyi, Delta, Nasarawa, Ekiti, Abia and Kano States,” he added.
The high point of the event was the presentation of prizes to winners in the various categories including deserving States such as Edo for best State in Shared Facility; Imo for best State in Fashion; Borno for emerging State in Innovation and Ogun for best State in MSME Policy.
