Imo partners MAN to establish industries

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

OWERRI- Imo State Government has reiterated its preparedness to partner with Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, to establish more industries to reduce the high level of unemployment in the state.

Governor Rochas Okorocha made the promise in a message delivered by the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Lady Chioma Oghoke, during the 24th Annual General Meeting of MAN, Imo/Abia branch, in Owerri.

Lamenting that past administrations in the state neglected all the industries built by Chief Sam Mbakwe’s administration, Okorocha, however, assured the citizenry that he would resuscitate and put all the abandoned industries into use.

Welcoming his colleagues earlier, the Chairman, MAN-Imo/Abia, Chief Geoffrey Ekenna, appealed to the governments of Imo and Abia States to take the issue of security seriously.

“All we ask for is that government, who is the key actor, should help us improve the infrastructure and business environment. That is the only way we can attract new investors, whether domestic or foreign”, Ekenna said.

In his own address, MAN President, Dr. Kola Jamodu, reasoned that for Nigeria to become one of the 20 economies in 2020, it must create a virile manufacturing sector, stressing that no economy will be tagged developed without a thriving manufacturing sector.

After giving a litany of problems facing manufacturers, Jamodu lamented that they restrained the sector from attaining the desired performance level to the detriment of employment generation and wealth creation for the nation,” Jamodu said.