By Suleiman Abdulmumin
Local agricultural producers and small business owners have called on the Kogi State Government to urgently address critical infrastructure gaps and regulatory hurdles hindering economic growth in the state.
The appeal was made on June 10 2026 by Alhaji Damisa Suleiman, Chairman of the Sesame Seed Production Association of Nigeria, Kogi State Chapter, during the Nationwide Town-Hall and State Engagement Tour organized by the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC).
Speaking on behalf of the state’s private sector, Alh. Suleiman highlighted two major bottlenecks stifling the potential of local farmers and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
A primary concern raised at the forum was the operational status of the Technology Incubation Centre located along the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) road in Lokoja.
Alh. Suleiman revealed that while the federal government had allocated essential resources to the centre, including a dedicated transformer and a power generating plant, the facility remains underutilized.
According to federal authorities in Abuja, the centre cannot fully take off until Kogi State fulfills a mandatory 30% counterpart requirement. Suleiman urged the administration to investigate and fulfill its obligations, emphasizing that making the hub fully operational could immediately empower and provide critical business development opportunities for nearly 50% of entrepreneurs across Kogi State.
Turning to the agricultural sector, the Sesame Seed Association Chairman shed light on the structural challenges keeping local farmers from scaling their operations.
While Kogi State boasts a massive expanse of fertile, available farmland, smallholder farmers are consistently locked out of formal land ownership due to the high cost and complex regulatory process required to secure a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O). Without formal land titles, farmers face security of tenure issues and are largely unable to access formal credit or agricultural loans from financial institutions. On behalf of the farming community, Suleiman appealed to the state government to step in with a simplified framework, such as providing subsidized or temporary land titles, noting that local farmers simply do not have the resources to secure a standard C of O.
The PEBEC state engagement tour serves as a direct platform for private sector stakeholders to interface with government representatives, aiming to eliminate systemic bottlenecks and foster a more competitive business environment across Nigeria’s 36 states.
