By UGOCHUKWU ALARIBE, Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, has called on other Nigerians to copy the spirit of the Igbo man to enhance national cohesion and development.

Ikpeazu who stated this in an interview in Aba, explained that the Igbo man is the only real Nigeria who can find investment everywhere across the federation.

He stated that while the Igbo can be found to be investing in places like Kaura Namoda, Zamfara state, other tribes in Nigeria hardly invest in Igboland and called for a change to promote national unity.

In his words; “Nigerians should copy the spirit of the Igbo. We are the real Nigerians. We are everywhere and we invest and spend money everywhere.

“The rest of Nigeria seems to be withdrawn. They should copy the outlook of the Igbo man.

“For the Igbo man to come and do a 5 storey building in Kaura Namoda and establish a hospital, build other things to add value means that he has faith that he belongs there.

“And he is not likely going to encourage anything that will not protect his investments.

“Other Nigerians are still withdrawn and unable to trust one another. You can’t find an Adamu Sanda Nigeria Limited on Azikiwe road in Abia.

“It is even difficult to find Kolawole Nigeria Limited in Enugu.

“I have a t-shirt where all the states have dots. And I now ask; dot, dot everywhere, who own Nigeria? It must be the dot people. The Igbo man adds value and supports socio-economic development.

“So, there has been this failure to recognize by the authorities that there are a people talking through their attitudes that they are the real Nigerians.”

Ikpeazu further urged Nigerians to rather ‘walk their talk’ than only declaring that they are Nigerians.

“It is not by declaring I’m a Nigerian, you must be able to walk the talk.

“Who are the people that demonstrated faith in Nigeria? It is undeniably the Igbo man. It is not about population, strategic location or living a foot to the river. It is about those who are prepared to recover Sambisa forest for the reason that they want to do business in Sambisa. The Igbo man wants to live in Sambisa and do business.

“The Igbo man doesn’t just see Sambisa as a forest, but as an investment opportunity. And this is the outlook Nigeria needs.”(Adopted from Vanguard)

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