The federal government has made available N7.5 million to small scale entrepreneurs engaged in tools fabrication in Aba Abia State.
The senator representing Abia South senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe who disclosed this at the Aba Urban Development summit at the Enitona Hotels Aba said that the federal government was prepared to encourage local fabricators of machine, tools, and spares.
Senator Abaribe who said the summit was timely and the theme “Extracting Practical Solutions to Unlocking the Potentials of Aba” apt and hoped that the recommendations will be adopted and implemented.
Declaring the summit open, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu said there is an urgent need for collective effort to return Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the state to its former glory.
He recalled with nostalgia a time when every spare part that could not be found any where in the country would be brought to Aba and be fabricated locally, made in Aba textiles exported to other parts of Africa and international investors saw the city as an investors destination.
According to him, Aba remains one of the best places to invest in and stated his readiness to provide investors the right environment that would grow their businesses.
The Governor stated that Aba occupies a strategic position in the economic development of not only Abia state but the South East generally, adding that his dream is to develop Aba into a mega city.
Dr Ikpeazu who said that a sea port and industrial parks are part of the mega city of his dream which is realizable with the cooperation of the business community.
He pledged to continue to improve security in the state and to do all that is possible to make Abia one of the safest places in the country.
While promising to enter into discussion with Nigerpet on how to open up Aba to a modern city, he pledged that the fallout of the summit will not be lost on him and noted that the greatest challenge is not power but the ability of Abians to prioritize industrialization.
Commending Aba residents for their cooperation, the Governor encouraged investors to establish 5 – Star Hotels in Aba as a way of attracting investments into the state.