By Taye Obateru
State governments have been urged to seek ways of removing impediments to business growth in their states to pave way for wealth and employment creation. Executive Director of Jos Business School, Mr. Ezekiel Gomos made the call at the opening of a workshop for top civil servants in Plateau State on Deepening Public-Private Sector Partnership for Business-Friendly Environment.

He said both government and the private sector should be interested in creating a “robust economic and industrial development that will create jobs, reduce poverty and generate revenue to various state and local governments through higher tax revenues.”

He noted that North Central states of the country were collectively among the most endowed in the country but are populated by some of the poorest citizens adding that unemployment especially among the youth, was reaching dangerous proportions.

Gomos added that these challenges were worsened by the negative attitude of the people of the zone to long-term investment hence the few number of thriving industries and commercial enterprises.

He said business men and women operating on medium and small scale who struggle to produce goods and services, creating jobs and paying taxes to various tiers of government, face impediments that make their operations difficult.

He cited insecurity and crime, lack of access to markets and finance, poor infrastructure, multiplicity of taxes and levies and inconsistent policies as some of the headaches of entrepreneurs.

Gomos stressed the need for government officials and the private sector to work together to remove the challenges towards reversing the low industrial and economic development of the geographical zone.

Also speaking, Country Representative of Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), a United States-based body, Mrs Omowunmi Gbadamosi said the organisation was working with organisations like the Jos Business School to train those involved in the formulation of policies that affect the business environment.

She said CIPE was passionate about the development of a viable business environment for the sustenance of democracy in the belief that there was a strong correlation between a good business environment and the survival of democracy.

Former U.S. Senator, Fred Whiting who was one of the facilitators said professional politicians often do not understand the intricacies of policies especially those that have no private sector experience hence the need for them to be exposed to some of the issues involved.