From Walter Ukaegbu, Abuja
Director General Small And Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Umaru Dikko Radda, has said that the agency employed more the 50 million people.
He also disclosed that if the SME in Nigeria collapsed the country would be in trouble as no nation grew without the firm establishment of the small and medium enterprises.
He told Daily Sun in Abuja yesterday that SMEDAN was the engine room for growth, lamenting that there were lack of synergy between one government organization and the other as some of the government agencies saw themselves as competitors.
“We were appointed to bring positive changes to Nigerians. It is not healthy enough to see agencies doing the same job with the other, instead of that some agencies could be merged to save costs and send staff to where they should be able to do better”, he said.
Radda also advised agencies to keep to the laws establishing them to avoid encroaching to the job of another agency.
He described the SMEDAN as more important than the petroleum industry if well developed to the standard that obtained in other climes.
He said most of the challenges facing the organization were not fully addressed, as majority of the SMEs were domicile in the rural area where also most of the beneficiaries were not informed or educated.