THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ESTABLISHING INLAND CONTAINER DRY PORTS IN ALL THE SIX
GEO- POLITICAL ZONES OF THE COUNTRY. HEIPANG, IN BARKIN LADI LOCAL GOVERNMENT
AREA OF PLATEAU STATE IS THE AREA SELECTED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR THAT
OF THE NORTH CENTRAL ZONE. DR GODFREY BAWA SHITGURUM (MON) IS THE GROUP MANAGING
DIRECTOR OF DUNCAN GROUP OF COMPANIES, THE CONCESSIONERS FOR THE PROJECTS. IN
AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH AFRICAN DRUM MAGAZINE, HE ENUMERATED SOME OF THE
BENEFITS PLATEAU STATE STANDS TO GAIN FROM THE PROJECTS.
EXCERPTS
2nd June, 2017
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| Dr Bawa |
What
is your general assessment of Uninterrupted Democracy in Nigeria for the past
18 years?
I wouldn’t say it has been wonderful in the past 18 years
because ours is nascent Democracy. Consequently, I would say we are still in
the learning process taking into cognizance other climes that have been
practicing democracy as a system of government most especially America for 200
over years. But we are just coming up in terms of democracy though there are brief
exceptions when between 1960 and 1966, 1979 to 1983 we had full blown democracy
but was intermittently disrupted by the military. However, from 1999 to this
moment, we have had uninterrupted democracy and I would say it has been a
turbulent journey. We had our ups and downs but in all, I would say the
learning process so far has been wonderful because we are making steady
progress based on our experiences in the past 18 years.
Would
you say democracy has really created the enabling environment for business to
thrive in Nigeria?
A Of course it has. If you take a look
round the world today, how many countries are still under dictatorship? Almost
the whole world has embraced democracy. This is a pointer to the fact that
democracy is the only form of government that engenders development because it
is the only system that encourages freedom in all facets of human endeavours.
It is also in democracy that the rights of individuals are well protected. All
these factors created the conducive environment for not only business but other
aspect of human endeavor to thrive.
What
really prompted your going into business and not picking up a career in other
disciplines?
Well, it all boils down to passion. It’s all about what you
set out to achieve in life. At times we develop our future career unconsciously
right from the primary up to secondary schools where you are open to choice of
disciplines ranging from Arts to Pure Science, business administration and so
on. I have always think of business, business and business and incidentally, I
studied business so it’s all about
passion and you know when you have passion for something, you always give your
best towards achieving it.
What
has been your biggest challenge in life?
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| Dr Bawa |
My biggest challenge in life? Well, as human beings we are
bound to have challenges but I don’t think I have had any biggest challenge
because I have always been myself. I am just a person who is Godfrey. As a matter of fact, my
challenge is to see that I make people happy, to put smiles on their faces. I
want to see that I give my best towards building my society to achieve
greatness. My challenge is to see that I always give my best in whatever I do.
If you don’t have challenges, you are not a human being. You must have
challenges. You can’t have it rosy all the time, but your ability to manage
your challenges well makes you a stronger person. You don’t ignore challenges,
you must face them courageously. To me, challenges are springboards that take
you to higher level, so, it’s all about commitment and dedications bearing in
mind that you have an obligation to fulfill.
What
is your take on the attitude of the Plateau Person with regards to business
orientation?
The Plateau Man is an independent
minded person. Once he makes up his mind on a project; he pursues it to logical
conclusion. The Plateau Man can venture into anything, whether farming, business,
civil service or whatever. The Plateau Man is very enterprising, hardworking
and ever ready to do anything within the confines of the law to better his life
and the lives of others. That’s my observation of a Plateau with regards to his
orientation generally. He is very generous, committed and is not lazy.
What
is your assessment of the business environment in Nigeria in the last 2 years
of the APC government?
You know the immediate past government
spent 16 years in power. The APC government is just two years into a four year
tenure, so it will be too early to begin to engage in destructive criticism. Of
course, the government has its shortcomings but there are areas they have made
tremendous improvement on, most especially in the areas of security and war against corruption, which is an indication
that there would be light at the end of the tunnel because for any meaningful
development to take place, you have to address the issue of insecurity and corruption,
two elements that have the potency of bringing any society down if not nip in
the bud on time. So, this administration needs our support because the success
of the administration would mean the success of all of us.
Tell us the significance or what prompted
the Federal Government to come up with the idea of establishing inland
container Dry port in Heipang?
The
Federal Government has decided to establish inland
container dry ports in not only Heipang but in the entire six geo-political zones
of the country. Plateau State, Heipang in particularly was chosen for that for
the North-Central. How the FG came about the choice of the location is best
known to them. Of course, they must have done their survey; they must have
realized or seen the value that we have in Plateau. They might have seen
Plateau State as a centre that easily connects to other states. They must have
aggregate all these and get convinced that indeed, the area is suitable for
this project. You know that moving from Jos to other states in the North central
and even North East is say to be handy. For instance, it is a matter of two or
three hours to Bauchi or Gombe, so, it’s easy to get access and move both our
imports and exports. And you know this administration has been encouraging
people to go into agriculture and to also explore the mineral resources in the
country for export so as to boost our Economy which is one of the cardinal
thingss this administration is pursuing.
Would
you want to tell us the involvement of your company – (Duncan Group of
Companies) in the project?
Yes, we are the concessioners for the Inland Dry Port
in the North-Central and our obligation and commitment is to see the project
takes off very soon. So, we are committed to that and I can assure you that we
are given our best to the project because Plateau state stands to benefit much
in the area of employment and economic growth from it.
What are the challenges you are
facing with regard to the project?
You
know this is a project that is new because we never had this kind of project
before. So, the usual challenges are those of construction, paper work and
others. But we are getting it right. The government of Plateau State has shown
much interest and commitment in the project and deeply involved in it.
What does Plateau state stands to
gain when the IDP finally takes off?
There
are a lot of benefits. First, it’s going to be an Export processing zone.
Second, it would help develop our agriculture. People would start coming to
Plateau State to Export from here and we would have import flow in our IDP. So
that might even turn out to be a hub for a particular product. Business men
would come in and establish factories and so on. There are so many advantages.
I remember two days ago when the administration was celebrating two years in
office and it was said of how movement of goods from Lagos to Jos now cost
between four hundred and five hundred thousand naira against the previous cost
of about seven hundred thousand naira. But by the time we complete the IDP, the
cost would be lower.
What is your advice to Governor Simon Bako
Lalong with regards to business development in Plateau State?
Yes,
the government is committed to opening up the state for investors to come in
and you know one of the basic factors that can encourage investors is peace and
security. Thank God, we are witnessing relative peace in Plateau state and the
government has been attending business meetings both in and outside Nigeria and
we can also see that a lot of investors are coming into the state. So I would
advise that the governor keep the spirit and continue to create the enabling
environment for more investors to come in and invest in the state.
Sir,
your final word?
My
final word to the people of Plateau is that we should continue to maintain the
path of Peace because no meaningful development can take place when there is no
peace. I would also encourage dialogue rather than confrontation. We should
employ the spirit of togetherness in all our undertakings and the sky would be
our limit.
Thank
you very much sir.
You are welcome
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