Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has challenged states in Nigeria to explore ways of increasing their internal revenue generation and boosting their agricultural production.

Osinbajo urged states to do more to harness the entrepreneurial spirit of Nigerians.

The vice president stated this while delivering the keynote address at the 18th Meeting of the Joint Planning Board (JPB) and National Council on Development Planning (NCDP), in Asaba, Delta State capital.

He said, “states must engage in careful and well-thought-out strategic planning in order to articulate and implement priorities derived from

strategic thinking based on comparative advantages.”

According to Osinbajo, the event themed, ‘State Fiscal Sustainability and Economic Diversification in Nigeria’, reflected the common commitment of the federal and state governments to work together in planning the economic future of Nigeria and its people.

“Our ultimate purpose is to create jobs and growth and as key economic managers in the context of Nigeria’s fiscal federalism, it is

essential that we work collaboratively and in tandem. I am optimistic that the deliberations of this council will contribute to achieving these noble objectives, which will lead us closer to lifting the 100 million people that the president has promised that we will lift out.of poverty in the next 10 years,” he said.

He added, “I propose three things for the consideration of this august body as a means of increasing production and generating the revenues at the state level. First, I would urge that states engage in careful and well- thought out strategic planning in order to articulate and

implement priorities derived from strategic thinking and based on comparative advantages.

“Second, there is great scope for boosting agricultural production if States choose two to three high-value crops/products to specialize in.

Such specialization will enable economies of scale in the provision of support across the entire value chain of prepared land, seeds,

fertilizers, and pesticides, storage, processing and transportation, marketing and sales. This also implies organizing the agro-allied value chain from farm to table.

“In a similar vein, states must take advantage of the entrepreneurial spirit of Nigerians by empowering economic clusters and trade groups

through the provision of basic infrastructure and shared facilities.”

Osinbajo noted that the current move of the federal government to provide broadband connectivity for all by 2023 “will assist the states

productive base but they cannot charge fees for laying of broadband infrastructure, which is like strangling the goose that will lay the golden eggs”.

However, he stated, “The complaint of many small businesses is the multiplicity of levies and charges by state and local government

agencies. States should, in fact, invest in agencies that can help small businesses comply with regulations and standards and access

credit. When the businesses grow and employ more they create taxable profit and taxable employees.”

The vice president, therefore, counselled state governors: “The key thing is to think out of the box and utilize the opportunities that

are open to the state. Some would have advantages that can be readily used in the area of tourism, others would be contiguous to major

economic centres like Lagos and Abuja which offer markets as well as cheaper and more affordable land for residential and industrial

purposes.

“Improving tax morale is also a very big part of the story as the evidence shows that people do not feel obliged to pay taxes and they justify this belief by asserting that they do not receive commensurate services.

“It would also be necessary for States to improve tax administration and widen the tax net by making it easier for people to pay tax both in terms of easier processes and lower levels of taxation.”

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