The prevailing peace in Abia State, especially in the Aba area, its commercial hub, is attracting the attention of foreign countries that are interested in investing in the state.
The state in February 2013 played host to three envoys, namely Jeffrey Howkins, the United States consular-general in Nigeria; Boon Intiratana, the commercial councilor of the Royal Thai Embassy and Hoang Ngoc Ho, Vietnamese ambassador to Nigeria, a feat that is unprecedented in the history of Abia State.
While the Kingdom of Thailand is interested in partnering the state in agriculture, tourism and agro-processing, Vietnam proposed trade cooperation in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, pharmaceuticals, textile and services.
Abia, apart from having a large concentration of micro, small and medium entrepreneurs, also has great potential in agriculture, as rice, maize, cassava, rubber and cashew are cultivated in commercial quantity.
Governor Theodore Orji, while hosting Hawkins, urged the United States government to explore opportunities for business and other collaborations with the state. The governor expects the United States to find Abia a veritable ground for direct investment in the area of agriculture, education science and technology and other areas.
According to him, US remains an important partner in trade, education as well as a model of democracy to Nigeria. He stated that he appreciated the cordial relationship the country enjoys with the US.
It is agreed everywhere that economic development cannot thrive in an atmosphere of terror. For this reason, the return of peace in Abia State, especially Aba, its commercial hub, remains one of the biggest achievements of the Governor Theodore Orji led administration in the state.
This great feat to restore peace and engender economic development has been applauded by individuals and groups within and outside the country.
Labaran Maku, minister of information, during his Good Governance Tour of the state acknowledged that the relative peace in the state has brought back hope, not only to investors, but also to all people of the state.
For instance, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depot at Osisioma, Aba, which was shut down as a result of pipeline vandalism, has been rehabilitated and it is now running. The closure of the facility about eight years ago did not only bring untold hardship to so many families, but also caused the death of some, who couldn’t bear the difficulty and hunger.
Consequently, the decision of the present administration in the state to invest in security was to provide conducive environment for businesses to thrive and subsequently create job opportunities for the unemployed.
And today, millions of jobs have come on stream, as marketers are now lifting fuel from the depot and factories in Aba that closed down as a result of bad fuel are also back.
Report from officials of the NNPC indicated that about 2.5 million quasi jobs have been created at the depot.
To safeguard the pipelines, the state government engaged soldiers and youths of pipeline host communities. This partnership is working. The pipelines are now safe, enabling NNPC to pump products regularly to the depot.
The Federal Government repaired the pipelines while the state government is working hard to ensure security with community leaders. However, this effort of government to provide good life for the people is believed to be sabotaged by petroleum product marketers, who have refused to sell products, especially fuel, at approved prices. This much was stated by Maku during his inspection of the facility when he accused petroleum marketers, especially independent marketers, of sabotaging government efforts at ensuring that people enjoy subsidy on oil.
The minister had commended the Abia State government and community leaders in the state for restoring peace and order in the area, which was bedeviled by high level criminality, kidnapping and pipeline vandalism and appealed to all young people in Nigeria to drop the attitude of destroying government infrastructure which, according to him, is inimical to their growth.
In his words, “You can never run away from poverty unless you follow due process. I know that poverty leads to crime, but crime reinforces poverty, but unless you reduce crime, economic activities cannot take off.
“We have seen in Abia that there is a lot of development and with what is happening in this depot, if we continue like this in all the southern states and the entire pipeline is secured by youths, then development will strive.”
The period between 2008 and 2010 was indeed very trying for the Federal Government and particularly the people of Abia State and especially residents of Aba, following the spate of kidnapping and armed robbery in the area. During that period, stories of kidnapping and band robbery were common across the state.
Even little children of nursery and primary school ages were not spared by the kidnappers, who made major Abia communities unsafe. This situation made the state to be regarded as a haven for bandits and criminal gangs.
Apparently tired of the scenario and in an attempt to ensure that total anarchy was not allowed to take over when there is a democratically elected government, Governor Theodore Orji approached President Goodluck Jonathan, who approved the deployment of soldiers in September 2010.
The soldiers, drawn from 82 Division, Enugu were able to dislodge the kidnappers and armed bandits from their various camps. This development signified the beginning of a new dawn for both the government and people of the state.
And now, peace has returned in the area, as the city of Aba has been adjudged as one of the safest in the country.
UGOCHUKWU EMEZUE
•Emezue is the chief press secretary to governor of Abia State
