Ease of doing business: Government must listen to private sector –Ayeku

Uche Henry

The president and chairman of Council, Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Bode Ayeku, has posited that the federal and state governments should give the operators in organised private sector of the economy a listening ear and act decisively to provide the visible enabling environment for hitch-free business operations.

The president of the Institute maintained that it’s not enough to make promises without taking practical steps to bring into fruition what is being said, adding that what is said to be done must be seen as being done by all and sundry if the governed must have confidence in the government.

Ayeku who made this known at the 43rd annual conference of the Institute in Lagos recently stressed that political leaders does not really possess the requisite knowledge to drive the economy, but should provide the necessary environment and platforms and engage experts to prosecute projects in order to alleviate poverty in the country.

He argued that the Federal Government and its agencies are not ignorance of the challenges bedevilling the country but lack of empathy, compassion and willingness to act decisively to the tune of the yearnings and aspirations of the private sector to make things work better remains the challenge.

“It seems the government and the private sector are standing at opposite directions because there is no blend of purposes, unfortunately, the government has issues with timeliness and turn-around period and lack of practical machanism to solve the problem faced by the private sector, when they say something must be done, it must be seen to be done within the time frame. Let all lackadaisical attitude and lukewarmness towards the economy stop forthwith” he said.