A Chinese firm, the China Geology Engineering Company, has arrived Abia State to boost the efforts of the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in rebuilding Aba into the a model commercial nerve centre of Nigeria.

Managing Director of the firm, Mr Ye Shui Jin, who led his top management team to Umuahia at 8the weekend, said the company, which has remained a bridge between China and African countries, was aware that Aba was a very important city in Nigeria.

Jin said they were in Abia to help the governor in his Aba urban renewal plan, adding that his company was ready to partner Abia Government in the areas of provision of basic infrastructure, water and sanitation, among other things.

Receiving his guests at Government House, Umuahia, the Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, said his administration was in a hurry to transform Aba to make the city a stronger revenue-yielding city, not only in Abia, but Nigeria at large.

The focus of this administration on Aba is not for cosmetic reasons,” the governor said, adding “It is because we know that in the face of dwindling revenue from the federation account, the best option for us is to leverage what we have to achieve what we desire and Aba is our cash cow.

“If we do well in Aba, we will not only be repositioning Abia economically, we will also be making a statement in the South Eastern Nigeria and in the entire West African sub-region because Aba has a history of strong impact on trade and commerce and also very strong impact on small and medium scale enterprises.”

Ikpeazu also said he expects the Chinese company to help his administration tackle the problem of Aba in the areas of waste management, opening up of the blocked drainage system for easy flow of water, as well as in rehabilitating dilapidated infrastructure in the city.

The governor disclosed that his great concern was to create employment opportunities for the teeming Abia youths and raise the internally generated revenue of the state to N2 billion monthly under a conducive atmosphere.

He also said that his administration was willing to partner the Chinese firm in the area of agriculture and promised to set up a committee to discuss further with the company on areas of common interest.

•Photo shows Governor Ikpeazu.

Update news