By Anayo Okoli

THERE is no gainsaying that the security situation in Abia State is one of the best in the country today going by reports available across the country.

This is not surprising going by the activities of the Major General Sylvester Andrew Audu-led anti-kidnapping outfit, Operation Jubilee, operating in the state to wipe out criminal elements, especially kidnappers and armed robbers.

One year ago, the state was no-go area because of insecurity. Kidnappers and other criminal elements had laid siege to the state. Indeed, Aba, the commercial city, was virtually under their control.

Residents fled, visitors shunned the city, business in the city crumbled. Nothing was working there. Literally, there was no life in Aba, the great Enyimba city. Abia was about turning to a pariah state as people, indigenes and visitors alike, avoided coming home or visiting. The situation was that bad.

Governor Theodore Orji was worried. Abia people were more worried. The situation seemed insurmountable. Orji took various measures, including mooting the idea of granting amnesty to the criminals.

The government set up camps in some parts of the state, and asked the criminal elements to drop their weapons at the camps and register their names preparatory to resettling them. But this failed and it became very clear, that these hoodlums never wanted to drop their criminal life.

Ultimately, Abia government, in collaboration with the Federal Government, invited the Audu [then a Brigadier General]-led troops to the state to flush out the hoodlums. The troop arrived in September 2010.

Few days into their operation, progress was made. Many of the hoodlums were rounded up. Those in the thick forests in the Ukwa and Ngwa areas of the state were also traced there by the soldiers who pursued them into the bushes. Life began to return to the state, especially Aba.

Those who fled returned and the city started bubbling again. Ever since then, Abia has enjoyed good security as the soldiers continue their patrol of the state with the assistance of other security agencies. Also, with the rehabilitation of the abandoned Ohafia Barracks, now re-named Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Barracks, the security situation in the state has become tighter.

The security network in Abia has, no doubt, created a conducive business environment. Expectedly, the state government has cashed-in on it to woo investors. On the strength of this, the government of Orji has been meeting with investors who have shown interest in doing business in the state, either alone or in partnership with the government.

The government has given the investors assurances that security is its number one guarantee and the governor has vowed to continue to give security priority in the state. He swore never to allow the state return to the dark days.

Following the assurances, some investors with interest in various fields have sent delegations to the state for feasibility studies while many others have indicated interest to come into the state to do business.

The foreign investors that have shown interest include Alkamali Petroleum, a  Dubai based oil and gas company, said to be interested in investing in the oil and gas rich area of Ukwa West. The company said it would build a refinery in the area.

The chairman of the company, Sheik Badar Alkamali, paid a visit to the state during which he discussed other areas of opportunities and partnership between Abia and his company. Alkamali said the firm intends to expand and move its business to Nigeria.

In his remarks, the strategic partner of the company, Nassirdeen Yahaya Kwande, explained that they were searching for opportunities and had come to assess the opportunities in Abia and build on them.

Another investor plans to build a cement factory in Arochukwu area of the state. Also, a Malaysian company wants to invest in the oil palm plantation which the state is rich in. The government has also opened negotiations with a South African brewery to revive the moribund Golden Guinea Breweries in Umuahia, the state capital.

Only recently, an Irish company expressed interest to invest in the abundant quarry industry in Abia. Already, officials of the company, Quarry, Roads and Mining Unique Services Limited (QRM), have visited the state and held talks with the governor.

Welcoming the investors, Orji assured them of security and other incentives that would encourage them to do business in the state, saying the state was safe for investments. The governor told them that no investor would regret coming to Abia to do business because, according to him, “Abia people are hospitable and the environment conducive”.