By Ovat Abeng
A group, South East Business and Investment Summit (SEBIS 2.0), has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently equipped Ikom-Cameroon border located in- between Mfum in Cross River State and Ikok in Cameroon to help revive the fast-dying socio-economic wellbeing of the region.
The Executive Secretary of SEBIS, Dr Ifedi Okwenna made the call while addressing thousands of participants at a one-day sensitization/economic summit organized by the group with the Themed “Remaking the South East as Economic Powerhouse,” held at Royal hall, All Saints Cathedral Church in Onitsha, Anambra State on Monday.
Okwenna lamented that the business atmosphere in Southeastern States, comprises of Anambra, Abia, Imo, Enugu, Ebonyi and some states in the South-South region are fast-heading into extinction due to lack of a functional border, properly linking the two regions to neighbouring Africa countries, noting that the situation can be ameliorated if the Federal Government of Nigeria can equiped Ikom-Cameroun border in Efon, Cross River State.
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“Businesses in South East region are fast-running into extinction majorly due to the above mentioned factor and lack of government intervention.
“We need a functional border like that of Badagry in Lagos State and Idi-iroko in Ogun State respectively to encourage export and import trading in the region. The Ikom-Cameroon border that use to be the prime border then, when the old eastern corridor and western corridor were competing is now a local corridor for fish famers in the area.
“We want the federal government under the leadership of President Tinubu to properly reopen and equipped the boarder to enable traders, mostly from Aba and Onitsha to begin exportation of their goods through the axis to Cameroon, Gabon, Togo and other Africa countries.
“Both the Nigerian Custom Service and the Nigerian Export Promotion Council are equally complaining of the dilapidated state of the border.
“Our people now transport their manufacturing products through Chidebre, GUO, Chisco and Osondu transport companies to Lagos for onward exportation to western world and about 64 percentage of containers that come through Lagos end up in Aba and Onitsha and nothing moves from Aba or Onitsha to outside the country in return.
“The rehabilitation of the border will not only energize the nation’s exportation policy, it will also create job opportunities for our teeming unemployed youths in the region and the country at large.
Okwenna while describing SEBIS 2.0 as “the region’s moment to showcase its potential and attract sustainable investments, call on the south east governors, entrepreneurs, investors, and other relevant stakeholders across Nigeria and the diaspora to support the crusade of returning South East status of being the economic powerhouse of Nigeria.
In their separate remarks during the event, Prof Chinedu Nebo, former Minister of Power/Vice Chancellor, University on the Niger, Umunya Anambra State, Director General of Onitsha Business School, Prof Olusegun Dapo Sogbeson and the assistant director/state manager, Anambra office of small and medium enterprises development agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Engr Chito Onuzulike, promised to partner the group to actualized its set vision.
The event also featured panel discussion, road show and town hall meeting.
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