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The report of Nigeria importing virtually most of her domestic commodities became so disturbing considering the inherent danger this poses to our ailing industries and the tension on the country’s foreign exchange reserve when the country is highly blessed with abundant human and natural resources to manufacture for herself, lots of goods and services as well, contribute to the economic health of the nation to guarantee her brighter future.
Statistical records has shown that Nigerians expend as huge as 35% of her annual budget on importation alone; rendering the country import dependent. Also, the esteem in which any country is held in the comity of nations hinges largely on the level of her industrial and technological achievement.
Weird out by most of these report and having known the entrepreneurial ingenuity inherent in each Abia man, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu stood to combat this anomaly headlong by taking the center stage for the made-in-Aba cum Nigeria projection to every part of the world.
In the wake of this government of Dr. Ikpeazu, the governor made commerce and industry one of the cardinal pillars of his government. The offshoot of this are the trip he, alongside Aba leather makers embarked to Turkey to enable them be exposed to the state-of- the-art machineries and methods of producing world class acceptable leather works. Also, the government had embarked on building a massive industrial layout for the leather makers at Umukalika in Obingwa LGA.
This government has made a paradigm shift of paying lip service to matters of cogency such as growing our economy. Apart from being the pilot promoter of the local content production, the governor Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has worn only made-in-Aba leather and garment products since the inception of his administration. He avowed not to eat imported rice until Abia begins to produce, mill and package her on rice at Bende and Attani, in Arochukwu LGA. In a nutshell, governor Ikpeazu dreams of nothing less than the best for Abians and the revival of our local industries; locating, promoting and supporting small and medium scale enterprises across Abia State.
This aspiration and projection which is not limited to producing, packaging, making available to the Nigerian market first, for local consumption and for exports have been greeted with a huge appreciation by the federal government with the Vice President to formally declare Aba as his first point of call for the government’s flagship MSME CLINIC, a project which is aimed at creating a platform to boost the performance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Nigeria.
The rationale behind this project at this point in time is to achieve sustained increase in capacity utilization and production of goods and serves by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise industries in Nigeria. This will definitely arrest the dismal annual growth rate and reposition the country’s national grid.
To complement this efforts, the government at all level should be charged to patronize basically, locally made content such as textiles, footwear, furniture, office equipment, food, beverages, etc. There should only be exception to the rules where locally-made-goods are in short supply or non-existent.
On January 24, 2017, the pilot scheme will be launched in Abuja whilst the train moves to Aba on the 26th to be personally led by Mr. Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo. Governor Ikpeazu will be delivering a note during the national launch as the most MSME compliant Governor in Nigeria. The visit to Abia will probably accord the governor the opportunity to show the Vice President some federal infrastructures not limited to roads such as Aba-Ikot-Ekpene, Aba-Porthacourt, Ohanku which when fixed will drive the economy of this part of the Nigerian on a fast lane.
It is also expected that the State having fixed and reposition the Bank of Industry (BOI) complex to kickstart operations, other agencies such as Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Nigerian Export and Important (NEXIM) Bank and other relevant agencies relocated to Aba cum Abia State to give boost to entrepreneurial ingenuity of the Aba man.
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