The Kaduna Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (K A D C C I M A) said there are no tangible reasons to support the Federal Government to relocate some departments of Central Bank of Nigeria as well as some parastatals within the Ministry of Aviation from the Federal Capital Territory to Lagos.
This was contained in a release signed by Esv. Ishaya Idi, fnivs,
President of the chamber.
K A D C C I M A said the development does not promote any immediate economic advantage to the country, saying, Abuja being the capital of Nigeria, should be made to remain so with all the necessary institutions that will make it function as such.
It said the reason(s) advanced for the relocation would rather undermine the status of Abuja as the nation’s Federal Capital territory.
K A D C C I M A suggested that rather than relocating such institutions and departments, the government should concentrate on the provision of more infrastructure in the Federal Capital considering the phenomenal rate of growth of the city as one of the fastest in the world.
“Apart from huge expenditures to be incurred for the exercise , there is a lot of emotional distress and dislocation on the part of affected civil servants and their families.
In addition, the envisaged humongous amount of money the relocation will gulp could be used to fund impactful projects. What we need now are clear policy and steps to revisit areas that gulp the nations dwindling foreign exchange.
“Furthermore, the administration should concern itself with addressing current economic problems as they continue bedevil our nation in various areas .in addition high cost of living, widespread poverty, pervasive insecurity, unemployment and continuous downfall of the Naira against major currencies.
“Again, priority should be given to revamping the manufacturing sector such as automobiles/automotive, agro-allied industries, cotton and textile value chain and other areas in which we have competitive advantage to produce for both local consumption and export.
“In conclusion, we want to advise that Government should always promote and roll out policies that will unite Nigerians rather than polarize them.”
