FLORIDA-Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has charged Edo citizens in the diaspora to return home and invest in the state.

Speaking at the 20th anniversary of Edo National Association in Florida, United States, weekend, Oshiomhole said, investors should take advantage of the Public Private Partnership, PPP, of the government to invest in the state.

While commending investors such as Dangote Group, which agreed to set up a fertilizer plant in the state and offer five to ten thousand jobs, the governor said the return of the dollars to Nigeria was higher than in the US.

He said: “PPP initiative of the state government was to relate with people, who want to identify with various businesses.  We had interacted with one or two persons, who want to set up business in the state.”

The governor, who highlighted areas of his administration’s achievement, assured investors of adequate security, saying “as a government, we are doing our best. Under the Nigerian constitution, security is on the exclusive list of the Federal Government.  It is not a concurrent matter.  The Federal Government controls Police, SSS and the armed forces.  I realise that it would be academic to leave the issue because for as long as our people feel unsafe, they will not have the confidence to investment.”

According to him, the state government had purchased over a hundred operational vehicles and other communication equipment for the police in addition to fueling the vehicles and paying a daily token to men of the Operation Thunderstorm to boost their morale.

He disclosed that the state had invested in the construction of roads, schools and hospital across the three senatorial districts, saying “our overall aim is to sustain public health awareness campaign.  What government is going to do for now is to procure some motorized vehicles that can move from village to village to attend to the health needs of the people.”