Kano State governor Abba Kabir Yusuf has lamented the hardship being faced by the people of the state and other Nigerians and engaged the business community on how to tackle the situation.
In an address he delivered yesterday at the meeting, he also lamented how businesses have deteriorated in the state and the increasing hardship among the people.
Yusuf condemned the massive reliance on importation of goods which he said has led to massive unemployment, drug abuse among youths and crimes. He called for the development of the industrial sector to encourage local production in the state and the country at large.
He called on the business community to cooperate with the government to find lasting solutions to the growing problems that have thrown millions in the state into hardship.
The governor also lamented the depreciation of the value of the Naira to the Dollar and how businesses have closed down.
He promised to block all forms of leakages that relate to revenue generation by putting in place new forms of tax collection methods that will rid the state of multiple taxation as well as leakages.
Speaking on the new tax method, he explained that it will be made annually through a transparent but direct remitting method.
“Since our coming to power, we have initiated meetings with business experts from the market communities to see how we can enhance business in the state.
“Kano has been the centre of commerce in Nigeria after Lagos. It is such that the state has gone down on the graph today.
“Formerly, business people used to come to Kano to buy whatever from other neighbouring states and from neighbouring countries. But all these have now deteriorated.
“All major business people from Niger, Cameron, Chad and others have made Kano their home. But today all these have changed. The patronage has reduced.
“In the past there were a lot of employment opportunities for people from Kano with the available industries which had provided livelihood for many. All of these are no more. This has led youths into drug abuse, kidnapping and banditry.
“Youths now engage in drug abuse and this has taken a serious toll on the community as phone snatching and others are prevalent. We are aware of the hardship being faced by the marketers due to scarcity of dollars, more so, the naira value has depreciated badly,” he said.
Those who spoke on behalf of the business community, included business leaders such as Alhaji Sabiu Bako, Alhaji Salisu Sambajo, Muhammad Adakawa, and Sammani Elsamad.
They called on Yusuf to lead other governors of the Northwest to find solutions to the economic problems of the region.
They explained that they don’t raise the prices of their products, adding that it is the producers that increase the prices, they only purchase and sell accordingly.
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