Agriculture and industries are the bedrock of every sustainable economy. A nation that cannot feed her citizens is essentially, a failed state. This is the reason countries with a thinking leadership or critically minded leaders often and constantly prioritize these two all-important sectors of the economy.
The failure of successive administrations in Imo State since the exit of Late Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe, to kick-start the much-needed agro-industrial revolution of the state, has been attributed to several factors including but not limited to the phenomenon of emergency governors, a situation that is prompted by the inability of the masses (electorates) to sieve the chaff from the wind. This backward political culture of the people on the other hand, is sustained by poverty because from experience, majority of voters demand gratification before casting their votes. The result is that square pegs are fitted into round holes in terms of governance.
2019 presents another golden opportunity for Ndimo to usher in a new era of knowledge-based, policy-driven governance using their voting power. Barrister Aloysius Osuji comes with an entirely new vision for the industrialization of Imo State. The United Kingdom-trained Legal Practitioner quite understands the dynamics of sustainable economic growth and development having trained and worked in some of the biggest and most developed economies of the world. Barr. Osuji plans to strengthen the synergy between agriculture and industries by first, bringing in the latest but best technologies applicable in modern mechanized agricultural production.
Barr Osuji realizes the futility of a food sufficiency drive without the application of the necessary agricultural technology. The present sloganeering with the agricultural sector by past and present governments in Imo State, in Barr. Osujis view cannot produce the expected result. There is therefore the need for a paradigm shift to spur food production and provide raw materials for agro-allied industries to be established in different parts of Imo State especially, the rural areas based on the time-tested, globally acclaimed principle of comparative advantage. Barr. Osuji has seen it work in Europe, America and China, and is therefore determined to replicate this in Imo.
The principle of comparative advantage in Barr. Osujis blueprint for Imo industrial revolution, will ensure that local governments or communities host industries that utilise raw materials available in their localities, something akin to what Late Governor Mbakwe did for instance, with the now collapsed Ceramic Industry at Nsu Ehime Mbano that has a lot of clay deposits for the production of ceramics. Likewise, the Late M.I. Okpara, Governor of the former Eastern Region located the now moribund ADAPALM in Ohaji/Egbema LGA due to the available of land and palm there. Ditto for Nkalagu Cement Factory located in Nkalagu Ebonyi State, with large deposits of limestone (the major raw material for cement).
But unlike the Sam Mbakwe industrialization strategy which allowed government to manage those industries, Barr. Osuji intends to leverage his extensive contacts and connections to lure private investors in the actualization this dream.
Barr. Osuji understands the role of small and medium Scale Enterprises, SMEs, as a veritable tool to trigger off a quantum leap in industrialization and agro-revolution. Having travelled widely to the Asian economic tigers like China and others, Osuji intends to deploy the success story of China SMEs in the Imo situation. Today, China remains the largest producer and exporter of merchandise in the whole world courtesy of the activities of small and medium scale enterprises. Experience has shown that large numbers of electronic and household products from China are produced in small apartments; this is the magic of SMEs.
But to replicate the Chinese experience, there has to be thorough re-jigging of the operations these SMEs via government policy. As a keen observer of the goings-on in our state and country, Barr. Osuji is well aware of the bureaucratic bottle-necks which SMEs encounter in order to acess loans from financial institutions. To illustrate: at about 22% interest rate, small and medium scale enterprises need the grace of God to breakeven in business. This is further compounded by the short term nature of the loans available to SME operators. Elsewhere long term loans ensure that start-ups survive the often tough incubation period. Experience also shows that even when government provides such incentives, the loans are more often hijacked by politicians who convert them to personal use. There is also the angle of bureaucratic corruption. So, to achieve the objective of leveraging SMEs (as in China) to kick start the manufacturing sector, would require a leadership or governor with a matching disposition and political will built on corporate discipline and experience.
This is where Barr. Aloysius Osuji (Agunecheibe) legal luminary and globally acclaimed technocrat comes in to fill the gap. Imo people must think differently in 2019, because the old political war-horses have obviously failed the masses alongside their so-called dominante political parties. Imo voters must begin to de-emphasize money in their voting behavior and focus on candidates with track records of service. Attention must shift from who has structure to who can deliver, as there is no other time for salvaging Imo than now.
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