The Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum and governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, on Friday, said the Forum would partner with Ohaneze Ndigbo to industrialize the South-East zone.
The governor stated this during a consultative meeting with members of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Council of Igbo Business Leaders at the Government House, Owerri.
Uzodinma, who said his state was ready for business and eager to receive investors with the requisite know-how and technology in gas exploration, commended the apex socio-cultural cultural organisation in Igbo land for constituting the council.
He expressed the readiness of the forum to support the lofty objectives of the council which were the identification of young Igbo entrepreneurs and grooming them towards mega business ventures; instituting a united and credible voice capable of speaking for the business community in Igbo land; liaising with international, national, regional, state agencies with a view to creating an enabling and conducive environment for investments in Igbo land, among others.
He said, “I am impressed by the calibre of the delegation, which included Chief Alex Chika Okafor of Chicason Group; Mr Frank Nneji of ABC Transport Group; Mr Johnson Chukwu of Cowrie Assets; Darl Uzu of Enyimba Economic City; and Lady Josephine Nwaeze, among other distinguished Igbo business leaders and professionals.
“With this kind of group led by our patriotic, experienced, and versatile leader and corporate giant, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, I am sure Ohanaeze made a good decision in setting up this formidable team.
“I am impressed by your broad terms of reference and I promise maximum cooperation and support alongside my brother governors. Imo is ready for business and, we are looking for those with good ideas – a 21st-century mindset for technology and gas exploitation. And contrary to some views, the South-East Governors’ Forum is alive and active. All your prayers have been approved.”
The Chairman of the Council of Igbo Business Leaders, Mazi Ohuabunwa, noted that the council’s terms of reference showed the apex Igbo body needed it to work with governments of the region to enhance economic development and integration in the land.
He observed that the unwillingness of Igbo businessmen and industrialists to invest in the South-East had brought untold neglect and hardship to the region while boosting the economies of other regions of the country.
Commending the forum for its efforts at stablising the economy of the South-East, Ohuabunwa, who was the immediate past President of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, said, “It is our view that we should see the Igbo land as a region with more commonalities than differences, and so propose that the region can have common investment policies and practices. We are essentially a homogeneous group and should be able to work together to build leverages and better compete with other regions of Nigeria.”