The immediate past Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Dr. Olawale Fasanya, has said the agency assisted in stabilizing the operations of more than 39 million small businesses across the country during its two decades of existence, describing its evolution from a resource-starved startup with no office to a nationally significant institution as one of the most remarkable institutional journeys in Nigerian public service.

Fasanya made the disclosure at the launch of his book, “From Cradle to Saddle,” which chronicled the progress recorded by SMEDAN since its establishment in 2003. He said former President Olusegun Obasanjo created the agency out of frustration that small and medium enterprises had not been given the attention they deserved, and that it began without a platform, funding, or even an office, operating initially from the guest house of the first director-general.

He said the agency had initiated a national policy on micro, small, and medium enterprises, a One Local Government One Product initiative, and numerous other programs that helped Nigerians set up businesses that created wealth and employment for young people.

He recounted that he left a petroleum sector job paying approximately 1.2 million naira monthly to join SMEDAN at less than 300,000 naira, drawing mockery from friends, but that the decision eventually led to his appointment as director-general.

Katsina State Governor Malam Dikko Umaru Radda, represented by his deputy Alhaji Farouk Lawal, described the book as a compendium on the evolution of SMEDAN as a driving force for small and medium enterprise development in Nigeria. Current SMEDAN Director-General Charles Odii said Fasanya’s contributions to every policy formulation the agency had undertaken, from initiation to final implementation, were enormous.