The Managing Director, Sujimoto Group, Sijibomi Ogundele, has recommended seven pillars to tackle economic deprivation in Nigeria.

He listed them to include funding opportunities, reducing regulatory burden on entrepreneurs, government’s support for innovative enterprise, encouraging localised production, global distribution and promotion of local enterprises.

The real estate mogul stated this in an Open Letter to President Bola Ahmed titled: ‘Government has no obligation to support businesses,” made available to newsmen on Saturday.

Sijibomi said one of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs is access to capital as funding remains the engine that propels innovation, generates new businesses and brings fresh products and services to the market.

He noted that government has to encourage financial institutions to create an intellectual and creative collateral system for businesses with no alternative for physical collateral such as lands or properties.

He said the current political dispensation has to reduce the bureaucratic red tape by simplifying and streamlining the process of starting and running a business to further promote the entrepreneurship culture, especially among youths.

He cited an instance of the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index that ranked countries like Singapore and the United Arab Emirates at the top of the list due to their business-friendly policies, while Nigeria is not even among the first 100.

Sijibomi explained that not all governments have the obligation to support businesses, but governments have a moral duty and obligation to partner with businesses because a thriving business is a thriving nation.

According to him, great nations like Egypt and Singapore are intentionally encouraging localised production and promoting local enterprises, hence, it is high time for Federal Government to create stimulus packages for businesses and local entrepreneurs to help them achieve their goals, promote job opportunities, and drastically improve foreign exchange.

He stated that this should not come in the form of grants but in affordable and accessible loan packages for specified durations.

Sijibomi stated that if Elon Musk was in Lagos, he probably would have ended up in computer village selling mobile devices, with his innovative ideas frustrated due to lack of funding.

He lamented that as of today, a 50 kilogramme bag of rice costs N42,000 from the mills and about N52,000 from supermarkets, whereas the same bag of rice is worth N22,000 at Seme Border, Republic of Benin.

He noted that the secret to reducing the price is by growing the paddy locally and setting up rice mills in individual states, drastically reducing the cost of rice and food.

Sijibomi said this is what Suji Farms Estate aims to achieve in the next 24 months, where Nigerians will be able to grow the country’s paddy, mill the paddy, and distribute them directly to supermarkets across the nation.

He said this will drastically reduce the cost of a bag from N52,000 to N35,000 and will further improve the nation’s human capital development as well as deliberately improve the nation’s food security.

Sijibomi further stated that the company believes the government can partner with other innovative agro-entrepreneurs, providing them with accessible, affordable, and non-stressful capital.