Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday declared that the huge industrial base of Anambra State is crucial to economic development while commending the entrepreneurial spirit of the Igbo. Osinbajo spoke yesterday during his tour of industrial locations in the state.

He said: “I have confirmed the business acumen and entrepreneurship going on in Anambra.

“This is truly the hotbed of industries in Nigeria; I am pleased with what I have seen. In whatever way the Federal Government will assist, we will do that.”

At the Onitsha industrial layout known as Onitsha habor, he said that the Federal Government was passionately committed to supporting local manufacturers to excel in their various business concerns hence he was sent by President Muhammadu Buhari to come and have a first appraisal of the technological works going on in Anambra State.

He hailed the entrepreneurial spirit of the easterners, saying that the state is very special based on their spirit of hard work which has made them the entrepreneurial center of the country.

The Vice President also revealed that the Federal Government is working towards opening technological hubs in some key states like Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and other states to be chosen to train graduates and non graduates on technology, which he noted is the way of the future.

“We want to challenge the world through the training of our youths on technology.

“What the industrialists are doing here is very crucial to this country and the Federal Government is not only interested in it but is ready to do anything possible as well as look for ways to assist in making it work better,” Osibanjo stated.

Also, at the commissioning of Rimco Refinery/Fractionation Plant and tour of other companies under the Chicason Group in Nnewi, the Vice President described Anambra State as the industrial heartland of the country.

He gave assurance that the Federal Government would do everything possible to encourage investors in the state.

After a tour of the Chikason Industrial Group in Nnewi, Osinbajo, described the Chairman/CEO of the group, Dr. Chika Okafor as one of leading industrialists in Africa, assuring that the immediate action to be taken by the Federal Government would be to address the issue of power and foreign exchange to mitigate the hardship the industrialists were facing.

He said: “I want to congratulate Chikason for the great work he is doing to industrialize Nigeria. Chikason can be described as the new king of industrialization in Africa.

“There are challenges facing industrialists in Nigeria and we will do our best to solve these problems. We will also do everything we can to support them because these are people who have invested enormous resources to achieve what we are seeing today.

Osibanjo noted that the Federal Government had adopted a policy of buying locally manufactured good as a way of encouraging local manufacturers.

“Federal Government has adopted a policy of buying locally manufactured goods and it is doing this by patronizing vehicles manufactured by Innoson Vehicle Motors, Nnewi, and the Federal Executive Council has also approved the purchase of specialized vehicles for Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) from the Nnewi-based company.

“A lot of what we are seeing here in Nnewi is the result of private enterprise, I am pleased to see the number of people employed by Chicason Group, and other companies in Nnewi, and we will support Chicason Industries and other companies like Innoson Vehicle Motors.

"I have heard and seen many of the goods produced by Chicason Group just as the Innoson Motors in Abuja as well as many other goods produced in companies in Nnewi, like Tummy Tummy Industry and other business concerns in this industrial city.

"I have been to Onitsha before coming to Nnewi and I must state that I am overwhelmed by the level of ingenuity, creativity and productivity of the manufacturers here. The vehicles produced in IVM are top quality and I have equally seen the large number of young men and women employed by these concerns. The Federal Government will encourage them so that they will continue to employ our people.”

The Vice President further said that he came to Anambra State to also ascertain the challenges confronting the manufacturers and industrialists in the state and to see how the Federal Government could assist them tackle the problems.

Anambra state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano who accompanied the Vice President on the working tour at the Innoson industry hub ordered the purchase of five specially made Innoson Vehicles for the state command of Nigeria Police Force.

He said that he met the Vice President a month ago and pleaded with him to come and see the problems facing industrialists in the state, expressing delight that the VP did not waste time in responding to the call.

Managing Director of Chicason Group, Nnewi, Chief Linus Ilozuo who spoke on behalf of his Chairman, said the greatest challenge they have in Chicason Group and other industries in Nnewi is power supply and lack of good roads.

He said that they would perform better and employ more people if these two challenges were addressed.

While appealing to the federal and state governments to address their problems, he noted that they were striving hard not to lay off workers due to high cost of production as a result of poor power supply.

•Photo by Pamela Eboh shows VP Osinbajo speaking shortly after cutting the tape for the commissioning of the Rimco Refinery/Fractionation Plant . . . on Thursday in Nnewi. He is flanked on the left by Labour Minister Chris Ngige and Governor Willie Obiano and on the right by Chairman Chicason Group, Chief Chika Okafor.

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