Northern Union laments region’s woes
From Ali M. Ali in Abuja, 05.22.2009
Friday, May 22, 2009

Northern Union (NU) yesterday in Abuja, said reforms and fresh policy of recapitalisation of Bureau de Change  has undermined operators in the region.




http://odili.net/news/source/2009/may/22/214.html

NU said the policy resulted in a sharp drop in the number of bureau de change  in the North from 1,427 to four.

The Central Bank (CBN) had directed that bureau de change  recapitalised their operations to the tune of N500 million before being registered which, NU, through its management committee chairman, Chief Patrick Adaba , said had shortchanged the  region greatly.

“In the area of recapitalisation of bureau de change, the North is shortchanged because most of the  operators who are based in the north can hardly afford the new requirement of N500 million as provided in the new policy. This has reduced the number of operators to only four out of  1,427.”Adaba said

Adaba recalled that the  banking consolidation policy  deprived the region some specific economic gains, citing the loss of the Bank of the North as an example.

He, however,said NU had tried to persuade governors of the region to establish micro-finance banks  in order to boost economic and expansion activies of small scale business enterprises.

The socio-political organisation identified the increasing  perilous state of textile industries in the north as  another contributing factor to the woes of the region and  charged northern governors to partner with the Federal Government to maximally utilise the N70 billion bail out stimulus  package for textile industries.

Adaba said collapse of textile industries in the region had given rise to unemployment, adding that “the industrial sector has suffered a  set back. The famous textile factories in Kaduna, Kano and Gusau and the oil mills of Kano and Gusau have remained a clear testimony of failure.”

They have all collapsed leaving, in its trail, a huge problem of unemployment” the chairman lamented.

The Union therefore, charged northern governments to remedy the situation by making huge investment in education agriculture, the exploration and exploitation of huge mineral deposits in the region.