We want to partner industrialists to grow Abia economy – Ikoh     

We decided to bring small and medium scale industrialists in Abia State together to find a way government can be of immense benefit to them, because they are the engine room of every economy, more so now that price of oil has crashed, the only way government can survive is through agriculture and manufacturing.

As the commissioner for industry, science and technology, I invited leaders of all different groups in the real sector in Abia State, especially those in Aba, to see how we can partner to create employment and improve internally generated revenue of our state.

Aba is the economic hub of Abia State, there are so many small scale industries in the area, but the operators are not coming forward to identify with government, because of the fear of taxation. Some of them are not also interested in identifying with government, because they feel government has no interest in their activities. I have called them to allay their fears. You could see that they were very happy at the end of the meeting, because as an industrialist, they are so happy that government has deemed it fit to appoint their colleague to head the ministry. And they have stated clearly that they are going to work with me and support government to achieve its aims.

I have already cleared their doubt and they have absolute confidence in me. They believe in me, they have said it. I am one of them and I know why some of them are invading tax.

And the first thing I have done now is to distribute forms, which will enable us gather data of industrialists in the state. The form is free. Government is not charging anybody money for it. They had paid money for such forms in the past and that is the first thing.

I know what their problems are and they have promised that they are going to contribute towards development. They don’t even need agents. With me, they will contribute their taxes as and when due. Double taxation is a major problem in Aba, and to stop it, the governor has banned the use of agents in revenue collection in the state, consequently, eliminating touts from disturbing genuine business operators. Lack of infrastructure, especially roads, was also a major issue, which the governor is currently addressing. Those are their challenges. If you give them what they need, definitely they will not shy away from paying their taxes. And from our discussion today, they are in support of government and so, it is going to be a win-win situation for all of us.

The CFC was one of the first facilities I visited immediately I assumed office and I will ensure that that facility is put into use. We are rehabilitating the place now. The CFC will work, things will begin to work in Aba and the good news is that I have a good synergy with industrialists, particularly the micro, small and medium industrialists.

The industrial clusters, especially the Umukalika industrial cluster will work. We are very serious and committed people. We have decided to bring excellence to today’s government. We will do things differently. We are bringing succor to the people of Abia State. We sincerely want to bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, by creating middle class, by putting food on everybody’s table, by making sure we engage them meaningfully to be productive, because if they are productive, they will pay their taxes and government will be happy and the government will do more for them, in particular Umukalika will work.

We are lucky to have the CFC, which was established to train and retrain artisans in the leather and garment industries, which is synonymous with the E4E programme. If we get it right, the burden of everybody seeking white-collar jobs will be a thing of the past, because it will help people to acquire skill to become self-employed and even become employers of labour. Government is interested in the programme and we will key into it to further expand what we currently have at the CFC.

We have also rehabilitated our tool factory in Umuahia, to train welders and steel fabricators.

Uniting all the trade groups in Aba is one of my priorities. The Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry Mines and Agriculture, a city chamber will support us in this regard, because we cannot deal with the factionalised groups, unless they unite. They have to be united, they have to speak with one voice for government to begin to listen to them and they have assured us that they are going to come together and definitely things will be okay.

The major programme of the administration in Abia-led by Governor Victor Okezie Ikpeazu is to industrialise Abia. The governor wants to support the real sector of the economy, especially agriculture to industrialse Abia. All state-owned farms will be resuscitated and we will begin to deploy our youths in those various farms. That is what is going to drive our economy.

And the good news for Abians is that things will begin to work. The synergy between the state and the Federal Government will bring good things for the people.