By Kingsley Omonobi— ABUJA

The African Centre for Global Entrepreneurial Leadership, ACGEL, a non-governmental organisation has called on the federal and states governments to change their tax policies with the view to encouraging small and medium enterprise, SMEs, to succeed.

The Chairman, Board Trustee of ACGEL, Pastor Greatness Oladapo, said this at the official coronation of the first-ever ‘King of Business’ and a worthy mentor to emerging entrepreneur, Dr. Adiodun Oyediran, in Abuja.

Dr. Oyediran is the Managing Director/COO of Abisteph Global Printers, whose company has an employment-population of 188 staff.

Pastor Oladapo said: “As an NGO we are going to push for policy change, especially in the area of double taxation by the governments to prevent small businesses from strangulation.

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“We are not a for-profit organisation, so we are saying that these entrepreneurs had incorporated corporate social responsibility into their businesses and, to that end, the government policy on taxation must change.

“This is because the businesses are already giving back to society through corporate social responsibility.

“So the government must reciprocate that gesture by reviewing its tax policies on small businesses in order to encourage them to succeed and create jobs for other youths.”

He recalled that in the 60s and 70s, there was nothing like unemployment in Nigeria, saying ‘unemployment was not Nigeria’s problem at the time so we were faced with different problems entirely’.

He noted that unemployment in Nigeria is artificial, not original and that every artificial problem has a remedy.

Pastor Oladapo noted that “it is on the strength of the foregoing that we believed that for a business that started 12 years ago to have build up a staff strength of over 180 and still aspiring to increase it to 400 in no distant future is a king making an impact so he is the best-placed person to assume the role of a king.

“The emerging entrepreneurs will meet him and he will mentor them into success.”

Describing Dr. Abiodun as an astute entrepreneur and a job creator par excellence, Oladapo said his major role in the project of employment generation is to mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs pointing out that a new generation that knows nothing about unemployment is coming.

“Abiodun is the first king ever that we are bringing to national echelon of this project”, he said.

“We have never done this before and he is going to bring his requisite knowledge to bear in encouraging the younger generation of entrepreneurs and in doing so he will leave a legacy in their lives,” he added.

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In his response, Dr. Abiodun Oyediran said that his coronation as the ‘King of Business’ by African Centre for Global Entrepreneurial Leadership is a call for higher service.

He promised to do anything within his power to encourage emerging entrepreneurs.

He said that one of the major challenges confronting small and medium enterprise in Nigeria is lack of access to finances, recalling that as a beginner, he was compelled to reject some contracts not because he lacked the technical ability to execute the job, but because he could not access bank loans then.

Meanwhile,  ACGEL said it was pulling together interests, initiatives and MDAs such as SMEDAN among others, to create a multi-million dollar funding for job creation to fight unemployment in Nigeria over the next 10 years.

The group said only interested applicants ready for its training and mentorship in fashion, agriculture, technology, housing, education and re-investment programmes stands to benefit from the first batch of N60 million.

Vanguard News Nigeria