A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), on Tuesday, urged Igbo indigenes residing across Nigeria and all over the world to invest in the five states of the South-East geopolitical zone in order to develop the economy of the zone.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, backed the call by the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who recently urged indigenes of his state based in Lagos State that their homeland was ready for business, adding that investing in the state would be in their own best interest.

The group said it was important that Ndi Igbo in the diaspora and those scattered across different states in Nigeria do everything possible to contribute to the growth of the South-East.

It also tasked the four other governors of the zone to join forces and take a cue from Soludo in conscientising their indigenes in other states not to forget their homeland and the economic growth of the five states in the zone.

HURIWA’s statement reads in part: “The call by Governor Chukwuma Soludo is laudable. It is important that the South East governors all jointly visit Lagos to conscientise Igbos to, at least, return 45 per cent of their tangible, investable, profitable, job-creating, wealth-creating businesses to South East to build the economy of zone.

“They also need to jointly work to end insecurity so as to support industrialisation and repatriation of some Igbo businesses globally back to Igboland. This is a critical, economic cum political emancipation. Igbo project that must be done to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in the overall industrialisation of all of Nigeria.”