Liyel Imoke attributes Africa’s rise to democratic process

One of the governors that attended the World Economic Forum in Abuja to seek investment opportunities for his state was Liyel Imoke. In an interview with BusinessDay at the forum, he said Nigerians appear to be underrating ourselves as foreigners were seeing potentials for investment in the country, the largest economy in Africa. Excerpts:

What did you gain from WEF recently held in Abuja?

Sometimes, we underrate our potentials. One thing I can see is the world is looking at Africa and the world is seeing what we are not seeing. Looking from outside, they are fascinated by the continent and the potentials and we need to understand that, and as a government key into that by putting in place the right regulatory policies, environment for the opportunities to be exploited to the advantage of the investors as well as the country. From what they see, even the seaming youth population is a potential.

Are we just realising ourselves now because the potentials have been there?

The potentials have not been there all along. We had military rule and there were times when people say no to Africa. We had time when what people see about Africa was negative, suffering and starvation. Now, why change of perception, a lot of it has to do with democratic process and we are seeing democratic process and evolution of governments in different countries in Africa and this speaks volumes to them. No investor would like to invest in country without getting the clear vision of what would happen in the future. There is change and we have to recognise the change and take advantage of the opportunities.

In taking the opportunities as they rise, but insecurity seems to be a clog in Africa, how do we navigate through this?

The challenge of development is that it brings with it a number of other challenges. One of the things I have said is that, whether we realise it or not, the evolution of Microsoft, Google and social media, and everything it offer has its positives and negatives. We are seeing terrorism coming into Africa and where is it coming from – Access to information and access to what happens in other countries. These are the things we need to be proactive to. Not that the challenges would not come, but we will not allow it to overwhelm us. For us as a country, we are evolving and it is a new phenomenon to us, and less than 10 years, it will take a while to get over it.

There is also technology, so while the social media and technology may support this terrorism, there is technology that is available to manage the evolution of terrorism and the crisis that come with it. So, if we take advantage of all of that we can manage it and actually get it to ebb.

At this WEF, what are you telling investors and who have you met?

The beauty of it is that a lot of people who are here have heard about Nigeria and parts of Nigeria. I have run into a people who have heard about Cross River State and good things in the state. I think that for them it is not about what the governor says but I always prefer them to talk to John Rice of GE and few others who have invested in the state. When this happens they will be the salesmen for the state. This is what we are seeing happening. We are seeing people who are interested in key sectors because they have heard what we are doing in the state. Those who are here are seeing the tremendous opportunities.

You still have a year, what are we expecting before you leave office?

What is left is the completion of what is on ground, and the delivery and sustainability and continuity. These are something some don’t understand and appreciate. One of the key things that drives successes, the fact that whether we like it or not that we had an administration for which we were part of. The Duke administration transited into Imoge administration without acrimony that affect investment and development. For us, the key thing is challenge of next transition to make sure we will continue in a sustainable manner. If we can achieve that and do work for another eight years, then CRS will certainly be on the rise. The key thing is completion of ongoing projects and the value for the ongoing projects must be appreciated as a shared vision. For us, we are not introducing any phenomenal projects.

People around the world know the state for tourism, but what are your baby projects?

What I like us to focus on, though as people we don’t pay much attention to it, is infrastructure which must be natural and must not be celebrated. But I would rather say celebrate the good governance in CRS. I would rather be celebrated for fiscal responsibility, proper planning, for consistent development, for improvement in quality of human life. The average Cross Riverian is better off today than he was a few years back. The fact that the state has risen from 27 in external exams such as WAEC to five or the fact that we have done infrastructure in secondary schools and equipped them, they choose the fact that we have renovated secondary schools. For me, the most important thing is that we have given the children the better quality of training and a better future. I would be celebrated for the infrastructure to improve people’s lives.