By Chimaobi NwAiwu

Nnewi-Former Chairman of Osakwe Industrial Cluster, Nnewi, Anambra State, Mr. Johnson Okolo has raised alarm that commerce and industry for which South East is known for was on the decline due to lack of political will by the various state governments in the area.

•Mr. Johnson Okolo, former Chairman, Osakwe Industrial Cluster, Onitsha

Speaking in an interview with South East Voice, Okolo said that Lagos, Ogun, Warri Kano and Rivers States had overtaken the South East in commerce and industry, regretting that ‘’our governors have over the years shown lack of interest in sustaining the industries located in their areas that made places like Nnewi to be called Japan of Africa and Onitsha the biggest market in West Africa.

“Industries are gradually moving out of South East, because there is no encouragement coming from South East political leaders particularly the governors.

Go to Ogun and Kano states, for example, and see what is happening in terms of industrial development. The entrepreneurship we are noted for in the past is no longer like that. We are losing on daily basis.

“We have to look inwards to see if Onitsha is still the commercial nerve centre of West Africa. Is Nnewi still the Japan of Africa, is Awka still noted for mounding irons or Enugu State that was noted for large production of coal which gave it the nickname Coal City, is still like that. Is Aba still one of the biggest markets for production of locally made goods like shoes? Where will our future generation go when all these things have been taken away from us?” he asked.

He, therefore, called on South East governors and the Anambra State government in particular to help the industries in the five states in the region to thrive, otherwise the zone would witness the highest level of youth unemployment that will threaten the security of the area.

Okolo, specifically called them to work towards improving the supply of electricity in the area which was the main reason industries were folding up.

“From May 1 till today we have not had light and we cannot boast of any production and yet we have workers we are paying; there is no attention of any level of government, from local, state and federal governments. The only thing the government of Anambra State has done for us is the rehabilitation of Ezeiweka Road that leads to this cluster and we must commend former Governor Peter Obi for doing that road.

“The most important thing we need from Anambra State government is a new site for expansion, this place can no longer contain us. You can see that two vehicles cannot enter and exit at the same time. When one vehicle is coming in, the one exiting must wait for the one coming in to offload its goods, before it can do anything,” he added.

He said that the Osakwe industrial cluster which has over 20,000 small and medium scale industrialists was started by one man, Chief Albert Ikemefuna. Osakwe Industrial Cluster is a small scale business started by former Ambassador Albert Ikemefuna Osakwe, who invited some expatriates who were running companies like Apex Mill Limited, Niger Oil Limited, among others, before other indigenous small scale industrialists came on board and developed it to its present level.

He said: “The cluster has grown into a very big one that space to do business is becoming difficult, some residential houses at Ezeiweka Road where it is located, have been turned to factories and the sound of power generating sets are making life unbearable for residents there.”

He then called on the Anambra State government to provide land for expansion, which had been denied them by successive governments over the years.

“Individuals, who established businesses in the cluster are faced with two major problems, namely electricity and lack of space for expansion and there is no space for machinery for power supply which the individuals provided for themselves since Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, EEDC, cannot provide energy for us,” he said.

He berated EEDC for failure to provide power for companies in the South East, adding that they were only interested in collecting electricity bills and accumulated bills from the customers and doing nothing in acquiring equipment for improving the company and its services.

He regretted that federal, state and local governments have not done anything to help in the growth and development of the cluster, even as the individuals, who developed the area were being made to pay all forms of taxes and levies just as owners of vehicles which bring raw materials and those that take their goods out of the cluster for sale were harassed and made to pay huge sums of money by some people claiming to be agents of government.

“About 17 members of the cluster out of about 120 people who contributed money to assess National Economic Reconstruction Fund, NERFUND, loan got N3 million each when we requested for N5 million, and it took more than two years before the money was processed and the individuals spent over N1.5 million before the loan was made available to them.

“We spent the money on travelling to Abuja, staying in the hotels for the number of days it would take them to see us with our consultants and lawyers.

He said they were asked to provide Certificate of Occupancy, C.of.O, for between two and five stores or buildings, adding that some of those who applied but did not even own any land were requested to provide C of Os before they came and assessed their buildings to see if they valued more than the money they asked for, but ‘’if I had five stores or buildings, I would have sold them off and forgotten the loan because of what we went through.

“Empowerment is not only through providing money. They can also help by finding markets for our products. The government has to come in and help us explore opportunities from other countries to help our industrialists.

‘’It is regrettable that in Nigeria, government will bring out money for small scale industrialists but the real small scale industrialists will not know when the money would be disbursed,’’ he said.