Politics

Ikpeazu: Changing The Abia Story

Aba, the business nerve centre of Abia state, popularly known as the Enyimba City have been the neglected child by successive government in the area of development despite the great potentials of the city. Since the exit of Chief Sam Mbakwe of blessed memory from office in 1984, no other administration, either in the old Imo State or the present Abia State has given more than a passing attention to the city. The coming into office of a “son of the soil” has changed the trend with Enyimba City beginning to take a new look. Supremacy Magazine takes a pip into the developmental programme of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in Aba.


When he mounted the saddle on May 29, 2015, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu quickly unveiled his roadmap for Abia’s transformation with special emphasis on industrialization and infrastructural revolution. He promised to make Aba Africa’s economic hub. And to match his words with action, he hit the ground running.

First Ikpeazu launched massive road rehabilitation in Aba. He has always explained that if Aba is fixed, half of Abia’s problem is solved because the money needed to effectively run the state can be generated in Aba alone. His massive road rehabilitation project paid off as many hitherto, impassable roads in Aba, today wear a new look. Chief among the roads is the Port Harcourt Road, Aba which before now had plants growing in the middle of one of the lanes of the dual carriage federal road due to decades of utter neglect. Not only that the road has been opened up, that singular project has revived economic activities along the entire axis which once prided as the ‘fabrication centre’ of Eastern Nigeria. He equally introduced the first ever cement technology in road construction in Abia for durability.

Although some of the road projects initiated by Ikpeazu in Aba and other parts of the state are yet to be completed including the first ‘flyover’ at the Osisioma junction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Express way obviously due to paucity of funds, Ikpeazu, unarguably, has made appreciable efforts in terms of road rehabilitation. Remarkably, Ikpeazu’s boast as the first governor to build durable roads with guarantee of 20 years may not be validly controverted. According to the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Okiyi Kalu, Ikpeazu’s administration has completed at least 70 road projects across the state. He said the state government had embarked on the construction of at least, 10 kilometres of roads in each of the 17 Local Government Areas of the state.

Abians of different political leanings today give kudos to Ikpeazu for almost permanently fixing the deplorable Ubakala Umuahia exit road although there is urgent need to complete the project as the remaining portion is posing grave danger to commuters. The promotion of made-in-Aba goods have been one of the pivotal weapon of Governor Ikpeazu’s administration in making Aba the industrial nerve centre of the country. His uncommon zeal and passion for the promotion of made-in-Aba products have attracted admiration for him by even his political enemies. The crusade which is part of his strategy for economic transformation and industrial revolution of the state is very commendable. As the chief promoter of made-in-Aba products, Ikpeazu, after his swearing- in, declared never to wear foreign made shoes and attires until he leaves office, a solemn vow he has consciously and proudly kept. Ever since then, made-in-Aba wears and shoes have become a brand.

Under his watch, the Nigerian military for the first time placed order for the supply of military boots for its officers and men. Other paramilitary formations including the Nigeria Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) have since keyed in. This has resulted into improved turnover for hundreds of thousands of shoe makers and tailors in Aba whose products are now celebrated both within and outside the country. Another area and perhaps the most outstanding of the achievements of Ikpeazu’s administration so far is the Enyimba Industrial City. This project and indeed its entire economic revolution are being propelled by Ikpeazu’s determination to turn Aba into the Silicon Valley of Nigeria. It is the estimation of the state to generate 90 per cent of Abia’s financial need internally when the project comes on stream. Larger chunk of this revenue according to Ikpeazu, would come from the Enyimba Industrial City.

The project sited on 9,800 hectares of land, spreading through Ukwa East, Ukwa West and Ugwunagbo Local Government Areas of the state is estimated to generate thousands of new jobs. The state government has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two multinational firms in partnership with the Federal Government for the development of the city.

Former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit and Chairman of Abia Investment Board overseeing the proposal, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa; as well as a member of the economic team, Mr. Chinenye Nwaogu corroborated this in a recent press briefing in Umuahia. According to them, the firms which had sealed a pact with government to develop the city included a Nigerian property developer, known as Crown Realities, and Chinese-based RUYI Group. They explained that Crown Realities had already completed the design for the project at a cost of 1.3 million dollars, while RUYI Group had also committed 2.5 billion dollars to the project.

Considering the crucial role of power in the industrial advancement of any society, a whopping N2. 5 billion dollars had been earmarked by the development partners for power generation. To this effect, another deal had been sealed by the developers, an energy giant - the Geometric Power Plant in Aba to provide uninterrupted power supply to the city. The choice of border LGAs as site for the gigantic project indeed has a lot of advantages. For example, its proximity to Onne and Port Harcourt seaports, the Port Harcourt and Imo Airports as well as the huge gas deposit in Ukwa West, justify that decision.

The project which according to government will be completely driven by the private sector will among other numerous advantages fast track the economic development of Aba and its environs. The city when fully realized will make Abia truly the economic capital of the South East geopolitical zone. Other states in the zone are already partnering to ensure the actualization of the project which, according to analysts, may significantly affect Lagos as some Igbo businesses currently based in Lagos are likely to relocate to the city. Due to the viability of this project, the Federal Government, according to Nwaogu, had already set aside N10 billion to be invested in it. He disclosed that the state was waiting for Federal Government’s approval to the proposal to make the city a Free Trade Zone. To ensure there is no clog on the wheel of progress, the state House of Assembly had also passed a legislation on the project, known as “Enyimba Economic Development Law’’ in order to ensure its realization, even after the present administration.

The industrial city upon completion would become the biggest economic hub in the South East. According to the government, RUYI Group, which is a conglomerate, will set up the city with more than 22 of its subsidiaries. In the words of the Information Commissioner: “The project will help to redefine the economic landscape of Abia with abundant job creation,’’. He however noted that the project which is expected to commence before the end of 2018, would be given priority in Ikpeazu’s second tenure.

Speaking on his commitment to transform the state, Ikpeazu had recently said that: “our story as a people is one of entrepreneurship, resourcefulness and diligence. This is our pride. We have astounded the world with our home grown technical skills, especially during a period of pervasive adversity, and followed it up with our trade and commercial prowess elevating one of our cities, Aba, into a prominent hub within the West African region. “Time is ripe to use the over 110,000 shoemakers and 50,000 garment makers as launching pads to enable Abia truly become the undisputed Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) capital of Nigeria”.

To match his words with action, the governor during one of his visit to China late last year entered into a $1 Billion business deal with Mr. Zhang Huarong, Chairman of Huajian Group for the establishment of a shoe industry in Aba. The partnership which will give rise to Abia-Huajian Shoe Industrial City will be producing 5000 shoes per day and will provide employment for 10,000 Abians. Part of the agreement is that the state government will provide the land and the enabling environment while the Chinese firm will fund the project. The Huajian Group is based in Dongguan, China and they are one of the renowned producers of shoes in the country with an average output of 10,000 shoes per day. Through the state government GEEP loan program, in collaboration with Bank of Industry, about 30,000 Abians benefitted from the program. Also the state government entered into a One Billion funding arrangement for MSMEs with the Bank of Industry which have impacted immensely on the MSMEs of the state as the engine room of industrialization of the state. The Abia Business Community with the tacit support of the state government took advantage of the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) to position the products from the state for export to America. To that effect, about 20 SMEs were mobilized recently to exhibit Made-in-Abia products in New York.

“To encourage increase in private sector participation in the state’s economy, we will constitute and empower an Investment Promotion Agency (a One-Stop-Shop) to streamline processes and facilitate investment inflow into Abia, according to Governor Ikpeazu. Their remit will include ensuring that it becomes easy to do business in our state and accelerate the rate of investment attraction.”

The Ikpeazu administration equally believes that industrialization cannot be complete without developing entrepreneurship and skill acquisition which have remained untapped in the state, especially in Aba popularly called, the Enyimba City. In line with his commitment in entrepreneurial development the government had successfully taken the first batch of shoe artisans and fabricators to understudy shoe automation technology in China. They have since returned and assisted by government to set up their own business and help in training others. 300 persons are to benefit from this special youth empowerment package. The governor had while launching the scheme said that the era of “KEKE (tricycle) empowerment has gone”. He said his administration would ensure Abia becomes the manpower capital of Nigeria where employers of labour would come to recruit skilled labour.

To actualize this project, Ikpeazu who is also a voluntary lecture at the state owned university, directed that a special arrangement be made for the teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (S.T.E.M) in two tertiary institutions in the state. The two institutions - Abia State Polytechnic Aba and College of Education Technical Arochukwu, plus some select Technical Colleges have either commenced operation or already licensed to admit students as part of the rapid industrialization project of the government. “Our people are our pride and strength; and building them will continually be a major thrust of my administration. Everyone, especially the youths will benefit from qualitative formal and informal education that develops knowledge, skills and competencies”, Ikpeazu vowed. Based on the remarkable achievements already posted by Ikpeazu in his industrial drive within his first term in office, some event watchers feels that if given the mandate for a second term in office, his dream of making Enyimba City the pride of not only Nigerians, but the entire global community will be actualized.