“Think Home” mantra and urgent need for Ndigbo to buy into the initiative
There has been a sustained call by well meaning Anambrarians on citizens of Anambra and indeed the entire South Easterners doing business in other parts of the country to “Think Home” and invest in their various states in the South East for obvious reasons.
Some of the reasons hinge principally on security of their investments and the need to develop their home states.
In a recent Town Hall meeting with a cross section of Ndigbo in Anambra which included business men and women in Lagos,Governor Chukwuma Soludo apprised them of his administration’s readiness in partnering with them to build a prosperous and secure state.
The governor also promised that there would be concerted efforts by his administration at improving the ease of doing business in Anambra state through reinforcement of the Anambra Investment Promotion and Protection Agency(ANSIPPA)as a one stop investment centre for enquiries, investment advisory and the likes.
Governor Soludo also assured that land would be made available through the industrial cities that are being initiated as long as interested persons fulfill the expected requirements.
In a similar development,the Human Writers Association of Nigeria(HURIWA)while lending it’s weight on governor Soludo’s call,urged Igbo indigenes across Nigeria and all over the world to return and invest in the five South East states to develop economy of the region.
Those were not the first time such calls were made on Ndigbo.The calls started right from the regime of ex governor Ezeife when he initiated all manner of radio and television slogans urging Ndigbo to “think home”.
With recent happenings across the country where Ndigbo were being humiliated,bullied,marginalised and discriminated against and their property destroyed,it becomes obvious that all patriotic Anambrarians and organisations calling on Ndigbo businessmen and women to relocate their businesses to the South East are justified and vindicated.
The mass drift of Ndigbo to other parts of the country and diaspora stem from the fact of their quest for greener pasture,sense of achievement and economic survival.
Recall that after the Nigerian civil war,many Ndigbo lost their properties and those who left their monies in the banks were given peanuts by the then federal government.
Out of frustration,many struggled so hard and found themselves in other parts of the country particularly Lagos and parts of Northern Nigeria where they rebuilt their lives and contributed to tremendous growth of those places.
It is the ingenuity and efforts of Ndigbo that economic activities are booming in such places as Lagos,Abuja,Kano,Kaduna etc with the resultant humongous revenue accruing to the various states for economic development.
There is therefore no gainsaying the fact that Ndigbo are agents of development wherever they find themselves.
That obviously has been generating jealousy and unfounded fear among their traducers.This bare fact has been used against Ndigbo to instigate violence against various Igbo communities outside the South East.
While we call on Ndigbo outside the South East to remain calm, law abiding and patriotic,there is an urgent need for them to heed the calls of “think home” by working towards repatriating their investments to the South East.
There are many wealthy Ndigbo who can afford to undertake power projects at various economic hubs in the South East.
Many others can erect industries and employ our teeming Igbo youths to be useful to themselves.
In Igbo land,vast portions of land abound for agriculture and manufacturing.
With visible assurances of taming insecurity and other vices threatening smooth economic activities in the South East, there’s hope that the “Think Home” initiative when embraced,practicalised and consolidated,the South East of Nigeria will be the place to go in Nigeria.
