Губернаторам Нигерии необходимо реформировать законодательство для поддержки малого бизнеса

ROTIMI IGE, in this feature, writes on how governors and state assemblies can empower entrepreneurs to thrive, and in turn, contribute revenue to the state economies. Across Nigeria, from the bustling commerce hubs of Aba and Onitsha to the emerging tech and creative clusters of Lagos, Abuja, and Ibadan, micro, small, and medium enterprises serve as the indispensable beating heart of the economy. These enterprises account for a staggering majority of national employment and drive a significant portion of household incomes. Yet, for all their resilience, Nigerian entrepreneurs operate in an environment fraught with systemic hurdles that threaten enterprise survival and stifle growth. While macroeconomic policies are crafted federally, the real-world experience of an entrepreneur is deeply shaped by the sub-national tier. State governors and state houses of assembly wield immense legislative and executive powers that can either suffocate small businesses with red tape or champion a renaissance of local enterprise. To transform the Nigerian economic narrative from survival to scalable prosperity, sub-national leaders must move past traditional tax-generation mindsets and embrace innovative governance designed to lower production costs, guarantee security, harmonise taxes, and ease access to capital. Unlocking this potential requires a deliberate alignment between executive vision and legislative action, creating an ecosystem where budding innovators and traditional artisans alike can transform their ventures into regional and global powerhouses. Nigeria’s national economic framework often boasts progressive blueprints, yet these blueprints frequently stall when they hit state and local government lines. Entrepreneurs operate on physical land, consume local electricity, pay state-administered levies, and navigate municipal bylaws. When state governors treat businesses merely as tax cows rather than strategic assets, enterprise mortality rates skyrocket. The division of power enshrined in the Nigerian constitution places critical economic enablers, such as land administration, physical planning, state roads, and primary education, firmly within the purview of state governments. Therefore, state houses of assembly hold the constitutional keys to rewriting the commercial destiny of their regions. When lawmakers pass progressive, enterprise-friendly bills rather than routine appropriation acts lacking economic foresight, they lay the foundation for sustainable internally generated revenue derived from thriving businesses rather than stagnant tolls. Stakeholders note that the prosperity of any state is directly tied to the health of its smallest businesses, viewing every startup not as a temporary source of cash through permits, but as a long-term engine of employment that will eventually widen the tax net organically. This shift requires state lawmakers to review archaic laws and draft modern legal frameworks tailored to the digital and green economies. However, one of the most persistent barriers preventing entrepreneurs from scaling is the slow process of acquiring land titles and securing the Governor Consent for property mortgages. Under the Land Use Act, state governors hold land in trust. In practice, obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy or securing approval to use real estate as collateral can take upwards of eighteen months, riddled with bureaucratic delays and rent-seeking behavior. For a startup founder needing working capital, this delay is often a death sentence. Commercial banks in Nigeria are notoriously risk-averse, demanding pristine collateral before extending credit facilities. When state land registries operate as paper-based administrative monoliths, businesses are effectively locked out of the financial market. Innovative state leadership can solve this bottleneck through comprehensive digitisation and legislative backing. States that have pioneered geographic information systems and digital land administration have drastically reduced the time required to issue land titles. State houses of assembly must codify these digital transitions into law, making electronic land titles legally binding and stripping away arbitrary administrative discretion, thereby unlocking billions of naira in trapped equity for business expansion. ALSO READ: Davido writes Trump, raises the alarm over Osun election Few challenges evoke as much frustration as the nightmare of multiple taxation. Small business owners frequently recount waking up to multiple enforcement teams from state revenue services, local councils, and unauthorised unions demanding different levies, permits, and branding fees for the exact same enterprise. This overlapping tax regime drains critical cash flow that should be reinvested into product development or inventory expansion. The root of this problem lies in jurisdictional ambiguity and the aggressive drive by local authorities to meet short-term revenue targets. State governors and houses of assembly possess the constitutional authority to bring order to this chaos through comprehensive tax harmonisation laws. By creating a single, consolidated billing and payment platform, states can make tax compliance seamless while reducing operational friction that drives businesses underground. Legislators must enact laws that explicitly criminalise unauthorised revenue collection and outlaw non-governmental enforcers who harass market women, artisans, and tech founders. A harmonised tax structure should feature tiered or progressive taxation where micro-enterprises enjoy tax holidays during vulnerable incubation years. When budding entrepreneurs are shielded from heavy tax burdens in their infancy, they build financial muscle and eventually graduate into reliable corporate taxpayers. Prominent industrialists point out that the current tax architecture penalises production rather than rewarding value addition, noting that collecting fifty small, conflicting levies from a struggling baker destroys their business, whereas protecting that business allows it to grow into an enterprise that pays substantial corporate taxes and employs dozens of citizens, ultimately benefiting the state treasury far more in the long run. Power supply, logistics networks, and shared infrastructure represent the highest operational cost burdens for Nigerian businesses. While national grid instability remains a federal challenge, state governments have the strategic agility to pioneer localised power solutions and industrial parks tailored to small enterprises. Innovative state policies should focus on developing purpose-built industrial clusters equipped with uninterrupted power micro-grids, reliable water supply, and high-speed fiber-optic internet through Public-Private Partnerships. In addition to energy, state assemblies can legislate the creation of innovation districts and incubation hubs to provide shared machinery, prototyping laboratories, and support services. Access to affordable credit remains the lifeblood of enterprise, yet commercial interest rates often price small businesses out of the market. State houses of assembly can pass legislation establishing venture guarantee funds, partnering with financial institutions to provide partial risk guarantees for loans extended to vetted small businesses while mandating that a percentage of public procurement contracts be reserved for local enterprises. Furthermore, social inclusion must anchor these financial frameworks by targeting women-led businesses, youth innovators, and rural artisans with targeted training and mentorship. By ruthlessly dismantling bureaucratic bottlenecks in land administration, harmonising taxes, building reliable infrastructure, and guaranteeing affordable capital, sub-national leaders can construct an unstoppable economic foundation. When innovative policies replace archaic red tape, entrepreneurs are liberated to innovate, create jobs, and drive prosperity. For state leaders seeking a lasting legacy, empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises is the most pragmatic, high-yield economic strategy to secure Nigeria’s future.