By Henry Umoru
GOVERNOR of Plateau State, David Jonah Jang, said yesterday that if Nigeria must achieve the set goal of becoming one of the top twenty economies of the world, there was the urgent need for the Federal government to pay serious attention to the development of small, scale and medium industries.

Jang who noted that the state will continue to cooperate with the Federal government in all its ramifications, however lamented the state has not received a lot of patronage from the Federal government, just as he called on the Minister of State, Commerce and Industry, Ms. Josephine Tapgun to use her position and influence to draw federal government’s presence to the state, adding that crisis which engulfed the state has been out under control with assurance that there will be permanent peace in Plateau State.

Answering questions from Journalists after his visit to the Minister of State, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Ms. Josephine Tapgun who hails from Plateau State, governor Jang who noted that there was the urgent need for the federal government to partner with the state in the area of Agriculture against the backdrop that Plateau State is endowed with abundant natural resources that will serve as raw material, adding that the government should establish in Plateau State, Small and medium Scale Industries.

According to him, “I believe that to industrialize a state or nation such as ours, we should not aim at very big industries that will become white elephant, we should start way the ancient giant started and start building from the small scale industries and begin to grow, we should not feel ashamed of starting, we have not been able to successfully establish a strong private sector in the nation and I believe that it is time we started, by the year 2020, we should be there as the federal government has planned”.

Responding, the Minister, Ms. Josephine Tapgun who noted that she was elated on the visit, promised that she will not disappoint Plateau State, just as she thanked the governor for his fatherly advice.