…Urges indigenes to think home
By Iheanacho Nwosu, Abuja
Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano has predicted that the state would be the Taiwan of Africa in the next few years.
This is as he implored financially high net worth indigenes of the state to think home in making their investment decisions.
Speaking on the 25 years of creation of the state, Obiano disclosed that the target of his administration is to raise the investment and financial profile of Anambra to a height that it will become the Taiwan of Africa.
The state was created on August 27, 1991, and Saturday marked the 25th year of its creation.
He explained that the decision to give priority to security was to ensure that investors and residents of the state could do their businesses freely.
The governor hailed the agricultural policy of his administration, revealing that farmers in the state earned $5m from exportation of vegetables to the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe.
He charged top businessmen and investors from the state to invest in the state . He argued that the safety of their investments and businesses was more guaranteed in the state than in foreign lands.
On what the state was doing about the invasion of some states by herdsmen Obiano revealed that his government had been able to stave off clashes between farmers and herdsmen in the state by deploying a strategic approach.
He explained that he set up a strong security committee that was given the mandate to ensure that both farmers and herdsmen did not take the law into their own hands.
He said “In May 2015, I set up a security committee to ensure that farmers and herdsmen keep the law”.
He continued “They (herdsmen) agreed that if they destroyed any farm in Anambra they will pay compensation. And they have paid 11 times…. If our people kill their cow we will pay compensation as well. And we have paid five times that it happened.”
Obiano also spoke on the effort of his government to make Anambra state an agricultural hub, and on the prospects of the state in the next 25 years.
“Anambra state will be the food basket of Africa in the next 25 years,” he said.
“In the next 25 years, Anambra will not depend on federal allocation. It will be known as a state that transited to become the Taiwan of Africa.
“We are number one among states that were created 25 years ago. We pay salaries as and when due. We are the safest state, and we have attracted billions of dollars in investment to the state.”