Abia Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has said despite the economic challenges confronting the nation, his decision to harness the ingenuity and creativity of Abians is gradually paying off as the state remains the SME capital of the nation.
The governor stated this yesterday while featuring in a political programme on the state-owned radio station, BCA.
Ikpeazu said since assumption of office in 2015, his administration has focused on prioritising what is best for the people, hence, the reason he pays attention to Aba, which, as the commercial nerve centre, is the state’s hen that lays the golden egg.
The governor said he hopes to see an Abia free from dependence on federal allocation based on the revenues that can be generated from the Enyimba City, if the right developmental structures are fully put in place.
“In the next 20 to 30 years, my vision is that we have a state that will no longer be going to Abuja for allocation, and if that is to be possible, then we need to begin to do something intentional about the economy of the state and economic activity around the economic nerve centre which is Aba; that is why we have decided to pay such attention to the place. We also decided to mainstream those things which we can do better than other people and it is clear now that we are the best.
“Abia has remained the SME capital of Nigeria since Vice President Yemi Osibajo pronounced us so in 2016 based on requisite economic indices. Abia also won an award for being in the top five among other states of the federation in the Ease of Doing Business category, while we were number three in the Foreign Direct Investment category, third only to Lagos and Abuja as recently as February.”
