Former governor of Cross Rivers State, Mr. Donald Duke, has opened up on the real challenges of Lagos State, saying “Lagos may be crowded out because every year, 750,000 new people come to Lagos to reside and the economy cannot support that. So, if you don’t get the rest of the country working, Lagos itself will collapse.”
In his lead argument during the launch the sub-national index report by the National Competitiveness Council of Nigeria (NCCN), he averred that “should the poor economic viability status of most states in the country persists, then the Lagos economy may no longer support the population growth in the state”.
He was quick to blame the overcrowding of Lagos on most governors, who he said, had failed in making their states economically viable.
The former presidential aspirant expressed disappointment that the present political leaders across the country were more interested in politics than governance, saying, “If you don’t get the economics right, then governance cannot work”.
According to him, “You cannot be competitive when you are not productive. The first thing is how dowe get productive?”
Business Hilights recalls that the NCCN had ranked Lagos State top among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in its first ever Sub-National Index.
After Lagos, other states in that order include Delta, Rivers, Niger, Enugu, Edo, Jigawa and Abia states, in that order.
The index covered four key areas of human capital, infrastructure, economy and institutions.
The report ranked Borno and Gombe 36th and 37th, respectively.
While Imo State was ranked 32nd among the 36 states and the FCT, Adamawa placed 33rd, Kwara 34th and Yobe 35th.
Many of the states’ governors are yet to respond to the ranking.
