[dropcap]P[/dropcap]lateau State is one of the few states in Nigeria that attracted a lot of industries few years ago. This is mostly because of the abundant natural resources that were and are still available in commercial quantity in the state. The presence of these resources which serve as raw materials for a number of manufactured goods attracted a lot of firms including foreign ones to Plateau State as the state got opened to investors and businessmen in diverse industries.
At a time, the employment rate of the state was so high that it positively impacted its economy to the extent that the state became centre of attraction to many who thronged to it to invest there. This is also helped by the fact that, just like its slogan, “Home of Peace & Tourism”, Plateau was among the most peaceful states in Nigeria until things started taking a turn for the worse especially from the turn of the new millennium when several ethno-religious crises, and recently, herdsmen and farmers clashes, have disrupted the peace of the state thereby leading to the disruption of industrial harmony the state used to enjoy.
These and other such factors like poor management, political interference, vested interests etc had led to the closure of a majority of the state owned firms in Plateau State for as long as 25 years or even more.
For example, the Plateau Highland Bottling Company went moribund in 1992, just 12 years after it was incorporated thereby leading to loss of jobs and its attendant effects on the workers and their dependants including those who are indirectly engaged by such firms.
The same can be said of the Bokkos Fertiliser Blending Plant, JIB, Panyam Fish Farm among several others.
However, knowing the importance of industrialization to a State like Plateau, its internally generated revenue and its positive impact on the people, Simon Bako Lalong, the executive governor of the state, embarked on a well-thought out plan to tackle the issues militating against the survival and growth of companies in the state.
Also knowing full well that no investor would want to invest in an atmosphere of rancour, political interference and uncertainty, Lalong tackled headlong those factors that brewed ethno-religious crisis and farmers/herders clashes in the state. He even went ahead to establish the Plateau Peace Building Agency, first of its kind in the country, to ensure the building and sustenance of peace in the state. It is therefore not a thing of surprise that Plateau under the administration of Simon Lalong has enjoyed enormous peace, thereby giving room for the beginning of a new era in industrial development in the state.
Having stabilized the state, the governor has through the Plateau Investment and Property Development Company (PIPC) which had also gone under until recently revived, resuscitated a number of the hitherto comatose firms among which are the Highland Bottling Company Ltd, Barkin Ladi, Bejafta Fertiliser, Panyam Fish Farm etc.
Through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, trusted companies were invited to take over the operations of these companies with the government still having some percentage of stakes in them but never interfering with the operations of the companies as carried out by the private investors.
It is the same thing with the fertilizer blending company that is being operated by Bejafta Fertiliser. The fertilizer blending company story is even more significant in that some Indian investors earlier invited by the Lalong administration to come and help resuscitate the company had written off the company as absolutely irredeemable. But in a bid to keep to his campaign promises to the people of the state, Lalong did not give up but gave marching orders to relevant agencies to find willing and able investors. This is how Bejafta Fertiliser came into the picture.
Today, Bejafta has beaten their target of production, already dreaming bigger and looking at fabricating their own machines needed for their operations, locally, just after about a year of commencing operations.
It is also instructive to note that attempts by this same Bejafta Fertiliser to help revive similar fertilizer companies in other states met with brick walls as political and other vested interests constituted cogs in the wheel of progress of the company, hence, they had to leave and such companies in those other states have remained comatose.
But the case is different in Plateau State where the governor has ensured that such debilitating interests and factors are removed far from investors and their investments thereby giving them room to thrive speedily and profitably.
The Panyam Fish farm which is the largest fish farm in Nigeria, is also receiving attention because of the volume and value of fish tended there. This fish farm alone has the capacity to meet the protein needs of north central Nigeria and beyond thereby employing and engaging thousands of people across the zone directly and indirectly.
This farm which had been abandoned for a long time in the past and left to waste is back again, thanks to the governor’s appreciation of its good effect on the state and its people.
To ensure that encumbrances are not in the way of potential investors in their bid to acquire lands in the state for their businesses, Governor Simon Lalong has slashed the cost of land in the state by half and also commenced the immediate issuance of Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to land owners without the usual delays and cumbersome procedures associated with such processes in other places.
Today, Plateau State is thriving again, thanks to the vision and determination of the governor who has proved that no stone shall be left unturned in his bid to return the state to its days of glory. And to think that the governor is doing all this despite the meagre resources accruable to the state from the federal allocation shows that he is a man who is focused and determined to bring smiles back to the faces of the people and residents of Plateau.
With the rate the Lalong administration plans of industrialization is going, very soon, commercial activities in the state will reach an all time high and the internally generated revenue of the state will so increase that the state, just like Lagos, might have little or no need for allocations from Abuja.
Following the imminent restructuring plans of the country, there is no doubt that Simon Lalong is already placing Plateau State on the pedestal of self-sustained progress and prosperity just as the mouth watering testimonies from the revived companies there are an eloquent invitation to other investors to make the state their final and worthy destination for their investments seeing that the state is also strategically located around the centre of the country and is easily accessible to the larger Nigerian market from all regions.
Pius Datiri is a public affairs commentator.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
