Osun State Governor Gboyega Oyetola

In this interview with journalists ahead of Osun Investment Summit, Governor of Osun State, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, says his administration is seeking investors and will offer incentives to those interested; EVEREST AMAEFULE was there

Why is the state government organising an economic and investment summit?

The summit is being organised because we are trying to expose Osun to the entire community of investors. This is because unless you have the opportunity of knowing what goes on, you will not know how much investment opportunities that are available in Osun.

In the area of agriculture, for instance, Osun is the place to be. In the past, our state was the leading producer of cocoa, which used to be the major revenue earner for the Western Region and even Nigeria at that time. We are still the third largest producer of cocoa in the country today.

We are blessed with abundant mineral resources; we have a lot of them in Osun. Although there has been a lot of illegal mining, what we are trying to do now is to regulate it and ensure that we provide the enabling environment required for investors to come around and invest their money.

There are other opportunities in the environmental sector. There are opportunities ready for investors in information communication technology since we have about the largest number of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

For culture and tourism, it is on record that we have the UNESCO-designated Osun Groove through which we host people from virtually every part of the world who come to look at what we have there. We also have other interesting tourist sites such as the Olumirin Water Fall, Ayinkunugba and many others.

My attitude to investment is that it is better to have partners. I believe that government does not have any business doing business. The best concept is to drive all these investment through private-public partnerships.

This is why we are creating the enabling environment for people to come and invest. We have a much secured environment and our state is adjudged to be the most peaceful in Nigeria.

Then, in terms of ease of doing business, we have put in place everything that an investor needs to be able to have a smooth inroad into the state. We also have the Certificate of Occupancy fast track in place to enable people pick up their C of O within 90 days.

When you look at the totality of what we have, we have created a good environment for businesses to thrive, in line with our state development plan, which is based on four pillars of economic development, infrastructure development, human capital development, and security and sustainable environment.

What are the things that can attract investors to Osun State?

Osun State is a place to be for a number of reasons. We have a large expanse of land for agriculture. Our vegetation is very conducive for agriculture and we have abundant mineral resources – gold, fespar, granite, and many others, waiting for investors.

What we have now are artisanal miners; we want to regulate them and encourage local and international investors to come in and invest.

Again, we have a very secure environment. We place a lot of premium on security; we have not less than 18 hours of electricity supply every day. Most of the companies that relocated to Ghana did not know what we have in Osun. Then, we have the political will to guarantee investment.

I am from a private sector background; at least, I spent 30 years of my postgraduate working experience in the private sector and I know what it means to allow businesses to thrive.

It is the private sector that drives the economy; government should only provide the enabling environment to ensure that they have opportunity to drive the economy.

With all these, we believe our state is the best for investment and that is why we are going all-out to showcase our potential to the world.

What kind of incentives are you offering to investors?

We have lots of incentives for interested investors. In agriculture, we have a land bank where we have made land available for investors and saved them the trouble of going into the communities. Government is providing land to investors.

We are also a state that believes so much in the rule of law. Once agreement is made, it is binding on the government. So, I don’t see any problem.

Osun is blessed with abundant mineral resources, but they are still largely untapped.

What are you doing to inculcate artisanal miners in the scheme of things?

Talking about the miners, the Federal Government has set up the Presidential Artisanal Mining Initiative. Osun and Kebbi are the two pilot states. The intention is to encourage our youths to go into mining and find a way of accommodating them.

Since the Federal Government is diversifying from oil, mining is a key aspect of that plan. Even the Federal Government is working to ensure that artisanal miners are properly trained. That is why we talk of regulation.

If you leave them entirely to what they are doing, there will be lots of damage to the environment. Again, you might end up discouraging major investors.

The essence of this is to ensure that they are not left out of job and to support them by increasing their skills in mining.

As I speak, we are registering all miners in Osun. This is to ensure that we are able to flush out criminals that come under the guise of mining.

We have commenced the process of capturing the data of all miners, artisanal or investor, so that we can at least know precisely that whoever comes to do business in Osun is safe.

In terms of readiness for investors, it will interest you to note that although mining is on the exclusive list, Osun is one of the very first few states that proactively reached out to the Federal Government and bought its own mining titles, which is about the largest in the country currently.

Does Osun have business clusters you are hoping to project as targets for investors?

Part of the things we are trying to achieve with the summit is to see if we can find people who are willing to invest in industrial parks.

Another area is the Free Trade Zone, which we already have in place for investors to come to use.

Let me also mention that we recognise the need to have a value-chain for our raw materials. We are not just looking for people who will use our state as just a base for raw materials, but we are creating opportunities for value-chain development.

In cassava, for instance, we are already looking at ethanol and others, and that is part of what we are selling to the entire world. We recognise that having viable agro-allied industries in the state will boost revenue and provide lots of opportunities for our people. So, that it is a win-win situation for all.

Multiple taxation is a problem in the country. How do you want to remain friendly with investors?

We believe that taxations have been so specified. In terms of taxes that people should pay ordinarily, for instance, when it comes to company tax, it is purely that of the Federal Government.

What the states charge, perhaps, would be in the area of premises charge. I don’t see much of challenges in terms of taxation, except the taxation on profit, which is beyond the control of the state.

How are you addressing infrastructure to ensure that the cost incurred by investors is reduced to the barest minimum?

The state government has done much in the area of infrastructure. If you come to Osun, you will notice that there has been so much improvement in that area.

Additionally, the Federal Government is working on rail lines, which will pass across the state to the north.

The quality of infrastructure in our state makes us very accessible.

Now that you are exposing Osun to the world, are you going to continue with the airport project in Ido Osun?

The airport project was conceived before we came in, about 10 years ago during Governor Oyinlola’s administration. It was supposed to be a partnership between the state and Federal Government. It was supposed to be a 50/50 arrangement.

Osun started but the Federal Government was not forthcoming. But realising the fact that if you want to encourage movement of produce, a cargo airport is desirable, we have taken it up.

We are looking forward to investors that may want to take it over and we give them 25 to 30 years lease on a ‘Build, Operate and Transfer’ basis.

A lot of investors are already showing interest in the airport because they believe it is viable. It is part of what we are marketing to the entire world during the summit. It is a laudable project that will create employment opportunities and commerce for our state.

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