Members of the National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to ensure the effective implementation of the oil and gas sector reforms in the new year.
They made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos and called on President Goodluck Jonathan to expedite action toward finding lasting solution to problems of the oil and gas sector.
Mrs Lydia Amos, Managing Director, Limmy Cosmetics Ltd, urged Jonathan to urgently address the epileptic power supply problem and implement the oil and gas sector reforms agenda.
Amos called on the president to create an enabling environment for socio-economic development. “Privatisation of the country’s refineries is the only option towards an effective oil and gas industry.
“Most small scale businesses have closed shop due to the epileptic power supply in the country which I think can be tackled,’’ she said.
She said that government's priorities for now should be on the power sector “because no country triumphs in socio-economic development without effective and efficient power supply”.
Another stakeholder, Mrs Falilat Balogun, the Managing Director, Khary Diary Juice Ltd, implored the Federal Government to take the power sector more seriously in the New Year.
She said that most companies had stopped production while many others had moved out of Nigeria to places with better operational environment. Balogun said “if President Jonathan can fix the epileptic power supply and tackle corruption in the oil and gas sector, we will have a new Nigeria.
?“The feelings of the people of this country can only be assuaged by evidence of actual improvement in ]their socio-economic conditions,” she said.
Mr Abiodun Kasali, the Chief Executive Officer of Sokuslow Construction Ltd, said, “ what is important to us at this time is that the power sector should be aggressively tackled.’’
Kasali urged the president to focus more on specific areas that would have great impact on the country, such as the implementation of the oil and gas sector reforms and permanent solution to constant power failure in the country.
“The president should put the interest of the country first in all he does, ‘’ Kasali advised.
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