For Gombe State to have won the number one spot in the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria in 2021 and repeating the same feat in 2023 speaks volume of the sterling leadership qualities of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya.
Inuwa Yahaya’s clarity of vision; good economic policy frameworks, coupled with clinical execution of the same in key sectors of Gombe State’s socio-economic strata have won the state the best in ‘the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria’ for the second year running.
For Governor Yahaya, excellence is not a happenstance but a culture of his administration. Although, he is elated that the hard work, commitment and financial prudence he has invested in Gombe State are yielding positive results, he is nonetheless complacent as he reaches out further in climbing higher ladders of success for the Jewel in the Savannah.
Winning the Ease of Doing Business a record second time perhaps explained why despite all the political tantrums thrown at Inuwa Yahaya at his second term bid, he remained unperturbed and eventually proved the naysayers wrong.
Court restrains Gombe govt from arresting publisher
As Gombe leads Nigeria again in ease of doing business
You can actually feel the openness that pervades the overall governance of Gombe State.
The Biometric System of Civil Service in Gombe State has gone a long way in eliminating red tapism and unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks that often slows down business processes elsewhere.
Training and retraining of civil servants and the e-governance model introduced by the current administration has helped tremendously in making the state a very business friendly state.
A cursory look at the economic indices in the state speaks to the merit of the ranking.
For the first time in the history of the state, a 10-Year Development Plan template is put in place by Inuwa Yahaya to drive all the subsectors in a symbiotic and enviable seamlessness.
For the first time, there’s an Industrial Park initiated by the Gombe State Government.
Gombe State had its first Investment Summit in 2022, tagged ‘Goinvest 2022’. It was a huge success that brought in diverse investors from Nigeria and abroad.
Perhaps, part of the experiences and rate of investment commencement after the summit also won the state this year’s Ease of Doing Business number one spot.
The Kolmani Oil Field development flagged off by President Muhammadu Buhari in the state has garnered a momentum of business interest towards the state unarguably the safest in Northern Nigeria today.
Just like a bicycle will stop once no one pedals it, Gombe has worked very assiduously in retaining its first position, by not resting on its oars but rather firing up the steam of excellence in every sector.
The road network programme of Inuwa Yahaya’s administration is a very fascinating one, especially for potential new businesses. Inuwa initiated Network Eleven-100 roads project by which each of the 11 local governments in the state will have at least, a hundred kilometres of road thereby opening up all the state’s interconnectivity by roads. Farmers and other businesses are praising Inuwa Yahaya’s administration for this initiative.
The attainment of this feat is a clear demonstration of his administration’s commitment to good governance which has culminated in comprehensive reforms in land administration, financial management, revenue administration and the massive infrastructural development that are critical to doing business.
Noteworthy is the drastic reduction in transaction time for processing land title and ease of payment of taxes as captured in the harmonised revenue law. In addition, the clear and purposeful drive in vocational and technical education, as well as support to SMEs, have ensured the upgrading of the skills of the youthful population of Gombe State.
As friends and associates drum up congratulations for the state known as the ‘Jewel in the Savannah’, it is pertinent to note the benefits of winning the Ease of Doing Business by Gombe State.
The Ease of Doing Business is a yearly appraisal conducted by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) under the meticulous watch of Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
When PEBEC released the second edition of the Sub-national Ease of Doing Business Report for 2023, Gombe State won the highest points, leading the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
This is the second time Gombe will clinch the first position having emerged the overall best last year when PEBEC released the 2022 Ease of Doing Business report.
According to the PEBEC report, Gombe scored 7.15 to emerge as the state providing the friendliest environment for business. It is being followed by Jigawa State which has a score of 6.79 while Sokoto State with 6.88 score comes third.
PEBEC looked at six indicators – Infrastructure; Secure and Stable Environment; Transparency and Accessibility of Information; Regulatory Environment; Skills and Labour and Economic Opportunity; Gombe State excelled in all.
Each of the 36 states has been rated on a 10-point scale across the indicators, providing the basis for calculating the 2023 weighted EoDB score for each state, Gombe came first.
What are the implications of these winnings for Gombe State? What does the state stand to gain in terms of macroeconomic impact?
The Ease of Doing Business ranking was first launched in the year 2003, by the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report (EoDB) as an assessment of business regulations across 190 economies. It was thereafter domesticated by some of the 190 countries as national barometric to foster smoothness for business take offs and consolidation.
At the national levels politically, an improvement in the ranking of a nation is projected by the national governments as a major economic achievement. For Gombe State therefore the award is a significant achievement.
The Ease of Doing Business evaluation is indicative of relative openness of the business environment in economies. The annual EoDB ranking is often cited as the most authentic indicator of the regulatory environment for business operations.
It is therefore to the credit of Inuwa Yahaya’s administration to win this worthy ranking back-to-back.
The award underscores the huge economic and industrial revolution taking place in Gombe State in the current political dispensation.
It should not come as a surprise when national and multilateral agencies begin to invade the state as Nigeria’s next investment destination.
The goose that lays the golden egg should be celebrated. That is why all Gombe citizens should stand in solidarity with Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya for making Gombe one of the best states in Nigeria.
The next four years of Inuwa Yahaya’s administration promises to be a revolutionary one never witnessed by the state, going by the developmental blueprints already put in place by the dynamic, prudent and progressive administration.
Misilli is Director-General (Press Affairs) Government House, Gombe
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