The Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi has called for homefront investments, seeing it as one of the greatest contributions Igbos will ever make in the development of their region.
Speaking when Ogbako Ndigbo Digital Forum, Ikeja Lagos paid a courtesy call to the governor in his office at the Centenary City Abakaliki, Governor Umahi lamented the Igbos properties worth billions of naira destroyed as result of insurgency especially in the northern region of the country, regretting the fate that befell its owners.
He said if the Igbos with all their matchless intellectual strength and entrepreneurial skills had invested in their land, there wouldn’t have been any need to foray in a foreign land in search of economic opportunities, but because majority of the Igbos invest outside their home and prefer foreign land, people move to these places for economic purposes.
The governor stressed the importance of homefront investments saying the government has put in measures to accelerate business growth and development in the region.
Hear him: “We are thinking railway, the railway project will also connect some of the eastern states and you know what it means to the growth development of these places.
“In the area of security, we have the best security network in Ebonyi State.
“The Neighbourhood Watch is complementing the roles of other security agencies.
“We are building entrance gates in all the entering points to the state. At our boundary between Enugu State, we are building a gate and tower with CCTV camera system, same in all the entering points to the state.
“As chairman of the Southeast Governors’ Forum, we will make sure the same security approaches and measures are in place in other states of the Southeast region.
“How many times will something happen to us before we learn?
“Our properties have been destroyed, we develop other regions for others, but our own is not developed. This is not wise. “Let’s think home”.
While assuring them their requests for Information Communication Technology, ICT hub will yeild the expected result in Ebonyi State, Umahi urged the delegation to hasten their relocation saying:
“We have industrial clusters. Just recently I was told the over five hectares of land behind the tower at PRESCO junction is owned by the state government.
“We will give you as soon as you conclude your request plan.
“In our Shopping Mall which is a microcosm of the macrocosm of the Dubai Mall, the ground floor has been taken by Chinese companies.
“Let’s move from selling to manufacturing. We have the capacity. It will do us good if we move from selling to manufacturing” he further added.
Earlier, Prince Tony Nwakaeze the chairman of the delegation said he was awestruck by the rapid transformation of the state by Governor Umahi.
He commended the engineering wizardry of the Umahi led state government calling on other governors to emulate his style of leadership.
While presenting their requests, Prince Nwakaeze said they are determined to come back and invest in the state specifically for ICT development as technologists.
He told the governor the desire of Igbo computer technologists in Ikeja Lagos state is to replicate what they have done in Lagos in the Eastern region, specifically in Ebonyi.
“We are here to seek your Excellency’s approval for establishment of ICT hub in the state.
“We want you to allocate a space for this project. It will help us in developing our region for economic growth.
“We want a space at the new International Market, we also want to take over the entire newly constructed SallCity Mall.
” When we entered Ebonyi, we were shock that we started wondering if His Excellency does money ritual or there is another money manufacturing industry built in Ebonyi that other governors are not aware of.
“I know that Ebonyi is the last born in South East but it has become the best city in South East, Nigeria and becoming a major industrial hub.
We are very willing to invest in Ebonyi to bring our many years wealth of experience in the development of Ebonyi state.
