Opinion
By Paul Nwosu
THE resounding success of the Anambra Investment Summit has become a stellar testament for the Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo administration. The erstwhile talk by naysayers that the Summit would be marred by the issue of insecurity ended up as empty waffle. The guests and participants had good time such that the question on the lips of all at the end of the Summit was: Where is the insecurity?”
The very high profile guests felt so free that at the end of it all they went into Awka town to unwind. Given the exaggerated tale of insecurity being bandied around by the doomsayers, any high net-worth visitor to Anambra State would have expected to find a quarantined people with their markets and offices virtually closed. The visitors would as well have expected to see empty streets prowled by gangsters looking for people to abduct and rob.
It was due to the misinformation of expecting to find an anomic state that some of the high profile guests left nothing to chance as they came with their own security details – only to discover that they didn’t have to. It was such a pleasant surprise to most of them, and they all gave their testimonies publicly and independently.
The prized guests arrived on a weekday to find a state capital bustling with economic activities. The roads were busy with vehicular traffic, and the routes from the Anambra International Cargo Airport, Umueri to the summit venue at International Convention Centre, Awka were vibrant with “Welcome to Anambra” hoardings and banners that speak to their purpose for visiting the state.
The visitors were marveled because what they saw on ground was diametrically the opposite of what they heard or were told. Call Anambra a free and bubbling state, and the visitors will take a great bow!
Its against this background that after the event, some of the visitors asked to see what the night life in Anambra is like. At every point they bore witness to the typical spicy Anambra pepper soup, nkwobi, isi-ewu, fish, barbecue, abacha etc. Live bands and a variety of minstrels entertained the guests as they gravitated from one joint to yet another hot spot. They readily intermingled with the other happy fun seekers.
They kept asking: Where is the insecurity? They wondered aloud that if the situation was as bad as they were meant to believe the multitudes of people would not be hanging out to catch some good fun.
With the solar street lights installed across the capital city by Governor Soludo beaming down on them, the guests could see what they would have missed if they had fallen for the negative propaganda. It would have amounted to missing out on the attractive windfall that investing in Anambra State presented.
“There are so many opportunities here! cooed one of the visitors while dancing at the Obalende Awka joint at Abakaliki Road, Awka. I will definitely set up something here once I get back to Abuja. You wait!
It’s obvious that Governor Soludo understands that without adequate security no investor would dare to bring his/her investment to Anambra State. Thats why he tackled the issue of insecurity head-on before beckoning on investors.
Anambra is fully ready for investors. The road network of Anambra State is witnessing a new lease of life with the Soludo Solution in revolutionary road construction. It can be safely said now that Anambra is one vast road construction site with interlinking centres of commerce from the hinterlands to the urban areas.
A sustainable Clean and Green Anambra State, coupled with aggressive urban regeneration to make Anambra the liveable and prosperous megacity are polices that Governor Soludo is committed in order to boost investment in the homeland.
The world has come to see that Anambra State is investor-friendly through the just concluded and highly successful Anambra Investment Summit. Given the security and landmark hospitality that the participants enjoyed, it is safe to say that Anambra is good to go in turning into a well-planned megacity state in the fastest possible time. The people are friendly and receptive; the investors are eager to come; and Anambra has a Governor that knows what the investors desire.
Anambra is ready for business.
***SIR PAUL NWOSU is the, Commissioner for Information, Anambra State
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-September. 12, 2023 @ 16:21 GMT |
Tags: Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo Paul Nwosu
