Igbos called upon to return back to the South-East to invest.
The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, and the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Nnia Nwodo, on Tuesday, reiterated the need for Ndigbos in diaspora to return home to the South-East, and invest towards economic development of the region, Page 36 learnt.
The two Igbo Leaders who spoke in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on the occasion of the Ebonyi Business Forum, which held at the Ecumenical Centre, added that the way and manner Ndigbos continued to overlook the investment opportunities abound in the zone, is partly responsible for the slow pace of economic development in the region.
They insisted that the situation must change, if the region is ready to take its rightful place in the country.
Speaking on the business opportunities in Ebonyi State, Governor Umahi noted that his administration had made efforts in repositioning the State, to welcome and accommodate all kinds of Investors in the State.
His words: “Ebonyians and Ndigbo in general, should visit and invest in any sector of their interest. All the necessary environments that aided the growth of businesses have been provided in the State.”
Nwodo applauded the Igbo Investors from Lagos State, who are in the State for investment purposes, saying that, with the level of infrastructural development in Ebonyi, the State would soon become the economic hub of the entire South-East.
He said: “It is said a good wealth is the one that reaches home. I am aware that Igbo registered voters in Lagos, are more than three million people.
“But during the elections, they are reminded that Lagos is not their father’s land. When things like that happen, it reminds you that you come from somewhere; and the need to go home. We have to develop Alaigbo, and turn it into what Catalonian is to Spain, and what Berlin is to Germany.”