By Babajide Komolafe
The much desired economic progress will continue to elude the nation except resources are promptly devoted to aggressive infrastructure development, says Dr. Emmanuel Balogun, President Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON).

He warned that Nigeria, as a member of the global economy, can not afford to treat the issue of infrastructure with levity given the pace of economic development in other countries.

“If we don’t want to be left behind by other countries, we must take infrastructure development serious”, he said.
He cited the example of China which, through constant investment in infrastructure, has emerged one of the top three economies in the world, in addition to having the fastest rail system.

He said, for example, efforts to grow the manufacturing sector would yield little or no result without proper infrastructure.

“How can manufacturing grow in the face of dilapidated, inaccessible roads with no constant power to operate the machines?”, he asked, adding that, that is why the first thing to address is infrastructure.

He said for the nation to achieve backward integration, which is critical for arresting the rural urban migration and reduce dependence on importation of raw materials, there must be good roads.

“Without good roads, transporting farm produce to industries where they are needed as raw materials   would be difficult.”

Balogun further noted that a modern rail system would help reduce the heavy vehicular movement on the highways and also reduce road accidents with the attendant loss of lives.

“A good rail system would reduce cost of transporting export goods to the ports and hence enhance the competitiveness of our goods in the global market.

“That is why we need to focus on infrastructure development because it is the key to the economic emancipation of the country.

“In my view, if we concentrate only on infrastructure for the next three years, we will see rapid significant economic development”, he said.

“Imagine the enormous resources that would be saved and freed up when we have regular power supply.
These resources would be channeled into other income and employment generating activities and thereby boost local demand and indirectly productivity”, he said.