Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, SAN, CON, the President of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has tasked the Federal Government to sign African Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) in order to enable Nigerians working in other African nations to repatriate their wealth to the country.
This was contained in a statement from the chamber signed by Gena Reuben Lubem, Media and Strategy Officer.
Prince Kayode emphasised this when he led the Executive members of the chamber to a retreat in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
“We have nothing to lose by signing this all-important document. We only have gains accruing to us therefrom. Nigerians are competitive and the federal government should add impetus to their drive by signing this agreement to enable them trade in goods, services and skills all over the continent.
“The world cannot wait for us. It is moving on and there is no need for the giant of Africa to be dragging its feet over signing this document which has so much to offer the people thereby enhancing their socio-economic wellbeing.
“It is sad enough that other smaller African countries that are far less endowed with natural and human potentials like is have strategically positioned themselves to benefit from the initiative. But I am optimistic that we will sign it consequently.
“The time to do not is now and in order to start negotiating our way through it. In any case, it is always better to negotiate from within than to remain on the sideline”, he added.
On the need to generate internal development across the federation, he urged state governments all over the federation to support and encourage chambers of commerce in their respective areas as a way of promoting prosperity and wealth creation.
Prince Kayode pointed out that the creation of wealth through agriculture and small and medium scale enterprises would reduce criminality and significantly improve on the Internally Generated Revenue of the tiers of government in the country.
He made case for governments to demarcate industrial zones in all the 774 local governments in the country.
Later while speaking at a reception hosted in his honour by the state chapter of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), the president said the federal government should toe the line of Organized Private Sector (OPS) by introducing better mechanisms for funding the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in order to create employment opportunities and generate wealth for the people.
