Small businesses in Kosofe need a stronger voice with government on taxes, regulation, finance and security, speakers said at a business dialogue in Ogudu last Thursday. Four days later, the public accounts of the meeting still leave a practical question unanswered: what actions will follow, and who will carry them out?
The third Kosofe Economic and Security Dialogue was organised by the Kosofe Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 24 September at Fish Farm Lagos, 1–3 Ogudu Road. The Chamber’s event notice identified the venue and date; Fish Farm’s own listing confirms the address.
Joe Femi-Dagunro, the Chamber’s president, said Kosofe had lost industries that once provided local jobs, particularly around Ojota. He said the Chamber wanted to attract investment but warned that concerns about security could deter businesses. The published accounts did not establish how many firms had closed or relocated, how many jobs were lost, or over what period. Those figures remain to be checked before treating the scale of the loss as fact.
The issue for current business owners is more immediate. Muda Yusuf, chief executive of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, identified finance, management, regulation and taxation as challenges facing small firms. He urged business groups to engage council officials and elected representatives regularly, rather than only during elections. Gabriel Idahosa, a former president of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, argued that community chambers could bring local problems directly to government.
Security was discussed both as an investment concern and as a day-to-day business risk. Speakers called for closer cooperation between businesses and security agencies, while Yusuf urged owners to take precautions against theft and payment fraud. The reports do not identify a new local security scheme agreed at the meeting.
Femi-Dagunro himself said the discussion needed to move from identifying problems to carrying out solutions. Yet the event accounts reviewed by KIO do not set out an agreed action list, named organisations responsible for delivery, or dates for reporting back to Kosofe businesses. That does not establish that no decisions were made; it means residents and businesses cannot yet assess them from the information published.
KIO’s next question to the Chamber is straightforward: What are the three actions agreed on 24 September, who owns each one, and when will the Chamber publish a progress update? A dated answer would give local businesses something more useful than another account of speeches.