Femi Adi/ Kaduna

Three days after Kaduna International Trade Fair was officially opened on a discouraging note, business activities are yet to pick up and participants have failed to take up stands .

Out of over two thousand stands, only about fifty have been taken by traders within Kaduna. The trade fair will end on 3 May.

The Kaduna State Chamber of Commerce was well aware of the apathy on account of political tension and insecurity. But sources said the chambers made a lot of efforts to woo participants, all in vain.

Senator Walid Jibrin, secretary of the PDP Board of Trustees, blamed political tension as reason for the low turn out of investors and business partners at the fair.

According to him, the fear of possible crisis that is still in the air obviously is a strong factor that has affected this year’s Kaduna Trade Fair.

In his goodwill message, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, who was represented by Ezehwanne Benjamin lamented the poor turn out but gave assurance that the federal government would intensify efforts aimed at reforming investment climate and improving the country’s business environment.

He said the ministry has also embarked on a multi-focus trade strategy to tackle various challenges to domestic, regional and international trade in line with their peculiarity.

In an address, the President of Kaduna Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (KADCCIMA), Dr Abdul-Alimi Bello, said he was glad that elections which Nigerians and the world at large were apprehensive about, have ended peacefully.

He however called on incoming administration at all levels of governance, to invest heavily in security ,macro-economy as well as place priority on how to make the business environment conducive.

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is expected to chair the trade fair seminar titled: Make it in Nigeria: promoting domestic production for national sustainable economic development, scheduled for today , 27 April.