Acting President, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, has commended what he described as “the smart business approach to governance” of the Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu.
Osinbajo said this when Ikpeazu led a delegation of some top functionaries of Abia State Government alongside top Aba business/industry leaders to a meeting with the Acting President and top Federal Government functionaries at Abuja on Tuesday.
According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Ikpeazu, Mr. Enyinnaya Appolos, the meeting, which held at the Acting President’s office in Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, was a follow up meeting on the economic development plan of the state, especially as it concerns support for the growth of Small Scale and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Aba.
It will be recalled that the Acting President was recently at Aba where he launched the maiden MSME clinic of the Federal Government.
While commending Ikpeazu’s “smart business approach to governance”, Osinbajo restated that “Aba is very strategic and important to the country in terms of innovation, manufacturing and production.”
According to the Acting President, “Nigeria has no business with China if all hands are on deck to develop Aba as a major industrial base.”
He also commended Ikpeazu’s unflinching campaign for Made-in-Aba products.
He stressed that the Made-in-Aba campaign has raised the tempo in demand for Aba made goods, maintaining that the quality of Made-in-Aba products has improved across board.
Osibanjo also said that the Federal Government would focus closely on Aba.
He directed all the heads of relevant MDAs to work with the Abia State Government and the business community to enhance ease of doing business and access to support for MSMEs in the state and the country in general.
Osinbajo singled out the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) as federal agencies that should ensure that Aba business community has no difficulty registering products.
While making his presentation, Ikpeazu outlined his administration’s MSME development plan for Aba industrial zone and thanked the Federal Government for partnering with the state to develop the economy of Aba and Abia State.
Ikpeazu also stressed the need for rapid development of Aba as the SME capital of Nigeria, adding that Aba has the capacity and potential to make Nigeria truly the ‘giant of Africa’.
According to Ikpeazu: “If Aba is given adequate attention, which include infrastructural and human capacity development, it has the potential and capacity, as the SME capital of Nigeria, to position Nigeria as truly the giant of Africa.
“Our government is doing all we can to ensure the infrastructural turnaround of Aba within the limited resources of the state, but we can’t do it alone, that is why we are thankful to the Federal Government for showing very strong interest in partnering with us to develop Aba as the SME capital of our dear country”.
Speaking on the campaign for Made-in-Aba goods, Ikpeazu said: “It is our collective resolve to promote goods and services made in Aba, and we will not relent in the campaign. We call on the Federal Government and multinational companies as well as individuals to, not only join us in the campaigns, but also patronize Made-in-Aba goods. We are also looking forward to the time when all government procurements will give priority to locally-manufactured goods to support local producers”
In his response, Osinbajo expressed appreciation for the governor’s knowledge of the issues at stake and informed him that the Federal Government will support him.
Also speaking, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Okechukwu E. Enelamah, informed Ikpeazu that the Federal Government is already thinking in line with him, adding that the development of Aba industrial zone is part of the 2017 budget of the Federal Government, and said that the project will soon come on stream.
The meeting also had in attendance Minster of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, the Acting MD of Bank of Industries (BoI), Ag DG of NAFDAC, Director General of SON, the Registrar General CAC, and DG NEPC.
Ikpeazu was accompanied to the meeting by his Commissioner for Trade and Investment, Mrs Kate Nwosu, and Commissioner for Industry, Chief Henry Ikoh.
