LAGOS (Sundiata Post) – His Eminence, Prophet Solomon Alao, Supreme Head, Cherubim and Seraphim Unification Church World-wide, has urged the Federal Government to reduce cost of doing business to grow Small and Medium Scale outfits.
Alao, who regretted the massive exit of companies from Nigeria to other countries, said that reduction in the cost of doing business and fostering of industrial incentives would spur industrial growth and make room for the employment of youths.
The cleric, whose speech was on the state of the nation, made the appeal in Lagos, at the Church’s 2024 News Conference to herald its Annual General Conference scheduled to begin on Thursday in Ondo State.
Lagos reports that the theme of the conference is “Match Toward the New Glory”.
The conference will attract faithfuls from across countries of the world, and will among other things, evaluate the progress of the church and proffer ways forward.
The cleric, who described the church as a vital component of the society that should be heeded by the state, said that the subsisting high cost of doing business in Nigeria was making life difficult for people.
He said that the SMEs were the largest employer of labour especially at the informal sector, and as such, incentives toward its growth should have positive bearing on the nation’s employment scale while its disregard will increase the nation’s youth unemployment rate.
He regretted the spate of insecurity in the society, adding that such societal crisis contributed to the high cost of produce as many could not have access to their farms to feed cottage industries that depended on the produce to function.
According to him, it is very sad for parents to toil and train children in school and they graduate without a job to lean on and support parents in their old age.
“With the rate of petroleum products and other aids to trades such as transportation, high cost of import duty on raw materials, multiple taxation and dearth of electricity by October this year, the remaining struggling SMEs might close shop.
“Monopolising the business space by bigger firms should be tackled by FG to aid smaller ones to survive in the society.
“It is absurd for banks to trespass from their banking job to selling airline tickets and recharge cards. The smaller outfits that are into such businesses will be edged out in time, thereby throwing more people into the labour market.
“It is an appeal from us the church for government to take more realisable steps at ensuring that the security of life and property is given priority,’’ he said.
He added that as a church, they would continue to pray to God to bless the leaders with knowledge to steer the ship of the nation to the desired end. (NAN)
