His going to China was not a feel-good, sightseeing trip; it was to turn the world’s gaze on the state and the products it churns out. That was the information journalists got upon Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s return from China.
Speaking with newsmen on the trip, Ikpeazu said the buy made in Aba campaign has been taken several notches higher. He said soon producers in the state’s commercial hub will attract buyers from all over the world and will create more job opportunities.
Ikpeazu said that while in China he visited a shoe factory whose owner was willing to come to Aba to establish a factory where the people will work and learn the modern ways of producing shoes faster and in larger quantities in a short time.
The governor said that 200 people from the state will be taken to China to learn shoemaking, and then supervise those who will be employed to work in the factory as the Chinese would not bring in labour from their country.
He explained that the arrival of the Chinese will not be the end of shoe makers in Aba as they will exist side by side with the factory as every business has its target market, “So there should be no fear for our people”.
Ikpeazu said, “We want to attract economic activities into the state and turn it into a place where people could come into a conducive environment to produce their products and sale, the era of made in Aba products has gone to the next level of come to Aba and produce”.
He said that the owner of the shoe factory in China has a franchise to sell and produce shoes for American market and he has not been able to make up the 2% required by his customers.
The governor said that the factory when established will cost the owner the sum of $1.5 million, “It is expected that 65% of the shoes that will be produced will be for export as he has been struggling to meet up his 2% demand in America”.
Ikpeazu said, “The establishment of the Chinese shoe factory in Aba will even make shoemaking easier and faster for our people this is because if a customer comes to them with a design they would just take it there while the customer is waiting and have the shoes despite the quantity produced within hours”.
The governor who recalled a theory propounded by one of his aides, Sam Hart that when Nigerian breweries arrived the country in the 60s that palm wine tappers felt threatened that they may go into extinction which is not the case today as they exist side by side, “So it will be the same case with the Chinese shoe factory and our own shoe makers”.
He said that during the visit to China that he and his team also visited a company that produces machines for shoe making and government is ready to acquire some of the machines for its own shoe production line.
Ikpeazu said, “We want to turn our state into a place where people would come and establish their production businesses while their customers will come and buy, thereby making our people not only busy also increase our revenue base. This is the reason behind our rebuilding infrastructure in our state such as roads, hospitals and schools so that when these people come everything would be in place, while moving around will not be difficult; we want to ensure that things are made here”.
He said that government has established Abia State Industrial Development Strategy where large parcels of land have been acquired in all the three senatorial districts across the state.
Ikpeazu said that such acquired parcels of land are backed up with certificate of occupancy (C of O) with the necessary infrastructure in place so that any organisation that wants to operate in the state will have a place to start from.
He told newsmen that some of his visits abroad have started yielding fruit, adding that, while in Turkey, he paid a counterpart fund of just $25,000 which has brought in a container of goods worth well over $400,000.
The governor said, “Another container with health equipment worth over $2 million which we paid another $25,000 we are ready to go to any length to ensure that our people get the best so long as the funds are within our reach”.
