● Says the zone not the most insecure place
Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State has called on other governors and leaders to have firm determination to move the Southeast region forward in spite of the challenges.
Soludo, who stated this at 2023 Southeast Summit on Economy and Security in Owerri, maintained that the Southeast is not the most insecure place in the world and therefore, leaders should ensure that the region thrives in business once more.
“I have heard the speeches given, books of lamentations. It is very good to lament, but I would rather like to see a glass as half full than half empty. The Southeast is ready for business; the Southeast is ripe for business, and we must all believe in our ability to turn things around and get the Southeast going again.
“That must be the outcome of this particular summit. We can lament about insecurity and so on; this is not the most insecure place in the world. Other places are thriving despite their own insecurity.
“When I arrived in Anambra, eight local governments were totally under siege by these hoodlums. They are all gone, and we are settling into business. They would not deter us, and Anambra, the Southeast, all of us, must be determined to move our place forward in spite of the challenges,” the governor said.
He, however, warned that if the Igbo citizens should wait until insecurity is completely eliminated before they come home to invest, then the region will become desolate homeland.
According to him, the Southeast renaissance should not stop at self-believe. The region should also partner with the rest of the country, the diaspora, and the international community.
“We need not just ourselves. We need Nigeria. Ndigbo needs Nigeria, and Nigeria needs Ndigbo. Ndigbo needs Africa. Africa needs Ndigbo. As people, we cannot be intolerant people.
“We need the partnership of everybody, partnership of the rest of the country, partnership of the diaspora, and partnership with the international community.”
He further warned that going by recent developments, the region risks losing economic and political relevance in the country, with drastic consequences already being felt by the people of the region after years of insecurity and agitation that have been used as cover by criminal elements to thrive.