Cognizant of the cornucopia of the natural, human, agricultural, mineral resources Abia is endowed with, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu on assumption of office, immediately hit the ground running, embarking on cross-border trade missions aimed at revamping, broadening, and expanding the industrial and entrepreneurial potentials of the state.

From September 10 to 14, he led a delegation, consisting of members of both the Aba and Umuahia Chambers of Commerce and 40 industrialists, businessmen to the KONEXPO FAIR, at Istanbul, Turkey, which attracted over 10,000 participants from 20 countries, who in the main are industrialists seeking new markets and raw materials for their products.

Prior to that, the Abia chief executive had led a high powered delegation to the United States of America where he met and interfaced with several companies, that had already expressed interest in collaborating with government in doing business in Abia. The immediate outcome of that US trip was the identification of two Fortune 500 companies with interest in leather and garments sub-sectors.

Because vigorous industrialisation thrives with the active collaboration of local and foreign investors, Governor Ikpeazu has put together a template garnished with incentives, tax breaks and mouth-watering freebies for public-private participation.

More so now that globalisation is running at full throttle, conventional economic wisdom posits that government restricts itself to the role of a buffer stock manager in providing well focused, business-friendly framework, structures and processes to enable the organised private sector engage optimally in trade, investments and industry. And that is exactly the mantra adopted by the present administration in repositioning Abia as the ultimate investment destination.

It is pertinent to mention that Aba the ENYIMBA City, from time of yore has always been at the matrix of the global supply/value chain of production of goods, commodities, commerce and services. Sampler: for decades, Aba has been known for great tailoring. Of all Nigerian towns, Aba, alone, is known for haberdashery. Good men’s suits made in Aba have found their ways to the big markets of the world, particularly Dubai, from where they are re-exported to third countries, including Nigeria, rebranded as Italian suits!

Middlemen and moonlighting travellers have for decades creamed off the sweat and skills of Aba tailors. It is ironic that people with the world-class skills of Aba tailors should remain poor and under-employed not when Europe in recession would have use of Aba’s low cost but high quality haberdashery; not when AGOA opens a preferential window to the vast US market; certainly not now that electricity supply is improving and hence driving down the cost of production.

As we speak, clothing factories in Europe and the US are all literally shutting down, leaving India and China as the only significant competitors; not when skilled Aba workmen are mobile and can do finishing in foreign markets; certainly, Aba cloth makers have no business being poor at a time like this.

Ditto for shoes, leather products, it is an unassailable fact that Made-In-Aba footwear, industrial boots, hard hats are shipped off to Dubai, where they are customised, repackaged and passed off, as ‘designer’ shoes to gullible fashion aficionados in cross border markets. A pair of leather shoes in Aba with a shelf price of five thousand naira, would command a hefty tag of $800 (eight hundred dollars)

Natural resources in vast exploitable quantities abound in each of the 17 local governments in the state. Kudos to the vision of Governor Ikpeazu, overseas investors are beginning to show interest in setting up shop in Abia. Windows of opportunities   abound aplenty, ranging from mineral resources like lead, zinc, copper, phosphate, gypsum, limestone, tar sands, iron ore, kaolin, igneous rocks, natural gas and oil.

Agriculture has always occupied a pride of place as an economic back bone of the state, from primordial times as Abia lies in the rain forest belt laden with various products such as wood, oil palm, cocoa and a flourishing compendium of human and natural resources. Crude oil and gas are found in very large quantities in Obuzo, Owaza, Ngboko, Nkali, Obeakpu, Isimiri, etc.

Arochukwu, Ohafia and Isiukwuato Local Government Areas command humongous limestone deposits, which have numerous industrial applications for the manufacture of cement, glass, iron and steel, road construction and fertilizer. Lodged in the bowels of Lokpaukwu, Umunneochi Local Government are vintage accumulation of lead, zinc and copper, used for the manufacture of car batteries, X-ray equipment, as it protects doctors and nurses from the hazards of the machines. Still at Lokpaukwu is gypsum; a vital input in the production of cement, pharmaceuticals and Plaster of Paris (POP).

Amaeke in Umuahia and Arochukwu are bequeathed with extensive phosphate reservoirs. It is a treasure-trove given the extent of proven deposits. Results of geological surveys affirm that enough supplies that could support over 100 years of industrial processing are emboweled there. By far, the largest user of phosphate is in fertilisers, accounting for around 85percent of total consumption. Phosphorus is one of the three main plant nutrients, along with nitrogen and potassium, and is therefore, included in inorganic fertilisers, for both agricultural crops and for gardens.

Phosphate is also provided to agricultural crops by spreading of municipal waste water sludge for agricultural purposes or by using treated sewage to enhance growth of plants, producing biomass which can be used as an organic fertiliser. Because of its high value as a nutrient, phosphate is widely used in the manufacturing of animal feed supplement. Food grade phosphates are used in many foods including dairy, meat, bakery products and soft drinks. It is also used as a main component of domestic dishwasher detergents, as well as in industrial detergents and specialist industrial cleaning product.

In the Uturu, Lokpanta Lekwesi axis of the ‘God’s Own State’ is large holdings of Igneous rocks. Because they are so hard, igneous rocks make useful road building materials. When sheets of igneous rocks are cut and polished, they are used inside buildings such as banks and offices, and are also used as gravestones. There are different types of igneous rock; therefore each type has its own uses, such as granite used for long-lasting monuments, for trim and decoration on buildings.

Indeed, Governor Ikpeazu has opened the windows of Abia for foreign and home-based investors. He is seeking partnerships and business participation from international agencies. He is working towards a state economy that will be self-dependent and self-sustaining from the revenues to be generated internally from the new business clusters. The idea is to harness the latent talent of the Abians for a new technology that will tap from the abundant human and natural resources. Abia, therefore, is the new bride of the investors.

Chinyemike Torti

Chinyemike Torti is SSA to the Abia Governor