In its determination to strengthening the effort of the Federal Government at boosting economic output, the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) has partnered the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Lagos State to make the bid a reality.
The collaboration came on the heels of a recent conference organised by the executives of NAPPS, Lagos State, led by its president, Chief (Dr) Alaka Yusuf Lukman, at the state secretariat of the association at Okota, Lagos.
In his opening remarks, Lukman pointed out that NAPPS is geared towards working with Nigerian industrialists with the hope of providing necessary education to help them achieve excellence in the various sectors of the economy.
Speaking during a lecture, the Vice President of the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Chief Kola Akosile, explained that the roles of the organised private sector are crucial in ensuring that a strong platform is made available for small scale enterprises to succeed in their operations.
Akosile added that combining the resources of the individual industrialist would, at the long run, help the country achieve better economic output and accelerated growth.
He further explained that one of the major problems that the alliance will resolve is the challenge that industrialists are facing while trying to access funds from institutions such as banks and government agencies.
“Good education will go a long way to equip the industrialists to achieve success in their various endeavours and overall output in the industry,” he said.
While delivering his keynote lecture, the Director-General of NASSI, Mr Ifeanyi Oputa, noted that the alliance with NAPPS, Lagos State is the panacea for promoting and enhancing the work of industrialists in Nigeria.
“Good education will help the small scale industrialists to improve their level of growth by combining resources of the various industries that will achieve a holistic unit,” Oputa said
He said that the NASSI’s resources will provide a stronger platform to approach the relevant authorities, which will facilitate their access to financial assistance among other resources.
He pointed out that if such important assignment was handled by an individual, it may be difficult to achieve the required result because of encumbrances the individual will encounter.
Oputa appreciation the professional values demonstrated by NAPPS, Lagos State in their drive to work with industrialists in the area of providing education that will help consolidate the quality of production process of the Nigerian industrialists.
Oputa said, “We operate in all the 36 states of Nigeria with headquarters in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. With the existing structure of NAPPS, our collaboration can help us to create a scheme that will enable our combined effort to help industrialists gain access to funds as much as N100 billion.
“An industry is not necessarily the perception that the generality of Nigerians have – that industrialists are the manufacturers who produce goods or services in the factory. Conversely, the true description of an industry is every organisation that has an investor. Such an investor could be described as an industrialist. In other words, there is the beauty industry, educational, health care, hotel, kola nut merchant and other small organisations.
“NASSI is concerned about what affects their business interest such as measures needed to ensure adequate security, legal matters and the like.
“We provide the members with details of government policies that will affect business operations either positively or otherwise, which includes ensuring that members gain access to government grants.
“We are inviting all people who can benefit from NASSI to join the group, not necessarily on the basis of their ability to pay members subscription or not. NASSI can easily reach the presidency or state governors to communicate needs of members to the appropriate authorities.”
