FOR the umpteenth time, Ogun State once again emerged as one of the three leading economically viable states in Nigeria. For three consecutive sessions under the administration of Governor Dapo Abiodun, the state has routinely maintained its competitive edge over the rest parts of the country. This time around, as a testament to its growing economic potential, the latest report conducted by Economic Confidential, measuring the Internally Revenue Generating (IGR) capacity of each state as a percentage of Federal allocation, put Ogun State on the front roll. While states like Bayelsa, Katsina, Jigawa, Niger, Adamawa, Yobe, and Taraba remained on the fringes and largely insolvent, Lagos, Ogun, and Rives states maintained their leading position among those that could conveniently survive without any federal allocation. Putting the state on the pedestal of sustainable growth within a term of four years is no mean feat. As a comparative analysis of the annual State Viability Index indicates, those categorised as insolvent generally have an IGR of less than 10 percent of their total receipts of federal allocation. Based on this standard, only six states have the economic potential to stay afloat under zero allocation from the Federal Government. And Ogun State stands tall among its peer group, closely trailing Lagos.
According to the report, Ogun State is next to Lagos as Nigeria’s top investment destination. By comparative analysis, the Abiodun-led administration outshone Rivers State on the list of economically viable states for the year 2022 alongside Kaduna, Kwara, Oyo, and Edo states. The breakdown of the figures compiled from the release by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) showed that Lagos received the sum of N370, 921, 413, 425.62 from the Federation Account and generated N651,145, 633.085 as internally generated revenue, while Ogun received N113,404, 027,439.22 from the Federation Account and generated N120,548, 157,140.78 internally. On the other hand, Rivers State received N363.4bn from the Federation Account and generated N172bn; Kaduna received N155bn and generated N58bn; Kwara received N99bn and generated N35.7bn; Oyo received N181bn and generated N62bn, while Edo received N147bn in federal allocation and generated N47.4bn.
This revelation was made during the presentation of the 2022 Annual States Viability Index Report in Abuja recently. In summary, the figures showed that the total Internally Generated Revenue of N1.5trn from the seven most viable states in 2022 was almost twice the total IGR of 29 states put together merely generating about N650bn. On the flipside, six states, including Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, and Katsina states, failed to generate up to 10 percent of the total allocations received from the Federal Government for 2022 and were therefore declared insolvent. Interestingly, oil-rich Bayelsa state is at the bottom of the list with N273bn federal allocation and N15.9bn IGR, representing 5.81% of the allocations. On the other hand, Kebbi State received N119bn FAAC allocation and generated N9bn IGR, representing 7.67 percent, while Katsina which got N165bn FAAC allocation, recorded N13bn IGR, representing 7.90 percent. Similarly, Akwa Ibom which received N360bn, generated N34.8bn, representing 9.66 percent, while its Taraba state counterpart earned N103 billion FAAC and generated N10.2 billion, translating to 9.91 percent. Yobe received N105bn and generated N10.4bn, accounting for 9.91 percent.
There is a wide range of implications for these poorly performing states. One, they will only depend on federal allocation to survive because of their comparatively low capacity for internally generated revenue (IGR). Secondly, they will have comparatively less revenue left to implement the capital expenditure components of their budgets, thus facing a greater risk of resorting to more borrowing or under-implementing their capital budgets. Worse than that, they offer no attraction for investment that could lead to economic growth. Ogun State is a nautical mile away from this scenario. Ranked higher on the performance index, it has comparatively limited dependence on federally distributed revenue for its operations and thus has greater viability if it were to theoretically exist as an independent entity.
This achievement is a testament to the positive result of the I-S-E-Y-A mantra of the administration. As an initiative invented to stimulate collective action for greater efficiency and productivity, the administration has never looked back on its drive for sustainable economic growth and prosperity for all since Abiodun assumed the mantle of leadership in 2019. Whatever the state has been able to achieve in terms of infrastructure development, healthcare delivery, education and human capital development, transportation, housing, youth empowerment, and agriculture, among others, is a result of collective ownership of the process, which is encapsulated in the acronym I-S-E-Y-A. It, therefore, goes without saying that the initiative has contributed significantly to poverty reduction and widespread prosperity throughout Ogun State.
Right from the inception of his administration, Governor Abiodun has routinely maintained his mission statement, focusing on “qualitative governance and to create the enabling environment for a public-private sector partnership, which is fundamental to the creation of an enduring economic development and individual prosperity of the people”. So, by sustaining the trajectory of growth, certainly, the best is yet to come for the state. It can only get better with continued commitment, focused leadership, and support of the citizenry.
Over the years, relevant stakeholders have always expressed concern over states’ heavy dependence on federal revenue for the implementation of yearly budgets. This is borne out of the need for enhanced public revenue generation to implement capital expenditure components of their budgets after fulfilling obligations to workers and other operating expenses. However, due to a lack of creative ideas, fiscal transparency, and accountability in public finance, most states have remained indifferent to the call.
Contrarily, Governor Abiodun has included an aggressive revenue drive as part of the cardinal agenda of his administration since its inception. And that is what has accounted for the less dependence of the state on revenue allocation from the Federal Government.
It is also the reason for the success the administration has recorded in the area of infrastructure development which makes the state a leading investment destination not only in Nigeria but West African sub-region.
With an assurance of an enabling environment, Governor Abiodun has continued to extend his calls on foreign businesses to make the state, especially the Special Economic Processing Zone, the destination of choice while considering investing in Nigeria.
While speaking as a guest on CNBC Africa recently on the sidelines of the Intra-African Trade Fair, put together by Afreximbank, in Cairo, Egypt, he said Ogun State had put everything in place to host any business venture.
He said Ogun State had the required infrastructure, including accessibility, access to power, and a youthful and educated population to make it investor-friendly.
His words: “We like to refer to ourselves as the Gateway State. We are the gateway to Nigeria’s prosperity. We are the industrial capital of Nigeria. By all accounts, we have well over 5,000 industries. We are the number one in non-oil revenue in Nigeria because we have large mineral deposits, particularly limestone.
“That explains why we have Lafarge, Dangote, and many other cement factories. The biggest cement factory in Nigeria is in Ogun State.
“Now, why are we here (Cairo)? We are here to attract more investors to our state, particularly as we pride ourselves on having the required infrastructure, be it road, rail, or air. We have a new airport, unarguably one of the best airports in Nigeria.
“Our Airport is situated in our Special Economic Processing Zone. The zone is being supported by Afreximbank and being operated and constructed by a private sector player called Arise LLP.
“Today, we want people to know about the zone, to come and establish processing concerns and factories in that zone, referencing the 5,000 other industrial activities that exist in Ogun State.”
The governor listed some of the companies in the state including Lafarge, Nestle, Cadbury, May&Baker, Unilever, and Olam flours, among others. He noted that companies coming to invest in the state would take advantage of its vast agro-produce like rubber, cassava, which Ogun is the number one producer in the world, palm oil, cashew, cocoa, cotton, eggs, and poultry.
“We are trying to attract investors to this processing zone, more so because we have gas, which allows them to access power. So, you are sure that your major cost of production, which could be power in most instances, is already mitigated.
“And I believe that we’ve managed to convince a lot of our listeners that Ogun State, the industrial capital of Nigeria, the education capital of Nigeria with reserve of youthful population is ready to receive you and as a government, we’ve provided a lot of reforms and policy initiatives to further increase our rating on the ease of doing business index,” he added.
The Governor also spoke on the significance of the African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC), which has been established at the Special Economic Processing Zone, a development which he said, would make Nigeria get value for her agro-produce.
But with AQAC in Ogun State, and within the agro-processing zone, Prince Abiodun said agro-produce from Nigeria can now be certified fit-for-purpose in line with world best practices. “And now, what they
do in AQAC is, they don’t wait until you have grown or you have harvested. They intervene from the point of your inputs, from the point of how you have planted, from what type of fertilisers you have used, from what type of fertilisers you were meant to use to ensure that by the time they are stamping your agro-produce, it is certified fit-for-purpose.
“Hitherto, when goods will have to go to Ghana or any other country to be exported, it means that agro-produce would probably have been undervalued. So, from now on, Nigeria can now export its agro-produce at the right value because it’s stamped fit-for-purpose from Nigeria,” he enthused.
By the time all of these propositions come to fruition, Ogun State will be the envy of all. And they will because the foundation for the necessary infrastructure that would serve as a pull factor has already been put in place.
This is part of the reason Prince Abiodun emerged as Vanguard’s Governor of the Year 2021 Award for creating enduring economic development and individual prosperity in Ogun State. As attested to by the organisers of the event, he emerged winner of the award through a rigorous selection process. Since then, he’s been doing his best not to let the guard down.
- Ogbonnikan writes in from Abeokuta, Ogun State.
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