The Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu has revealed that sit-at-home order by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra is killing the South-east economy.
Kalu made this known on Friday, in Abuja when executives of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASMEs) paid him a courtesy visit.
Kalu disclosed that the Southeast geopolitical zone loses between N10 billion and N13 billion in the transportation sector alone on every sit-at-home day weekly.
“When they sit at home in the Southeast, the Southwest, South-South, Northwest, Northeast, and North Central are not sitting at home,’’ Kalu said.
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He also observed that when SMEs in the Southeast suffer, the whole country suffers, stressing that when the region suffers, Nigeria suffers.
“Prices of goods and services will suffer if there is insecurity in the land,’’ the deputy speaker noted.
Kalu promised a legislative commitment to address concerns raised earlier by the visitors.
“We must seek the growth of SMEs; there must be a law to support it.
“We must examine existing laws that are not SMEs-friendly. That way, we can address some of the economic challenges facing the country via SMEs,’’ he said.
“We believe in SMEs because, without them, major corporations cannot exist. We must support and promote the growth of SMEs,’’ Kalu stressed.
