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From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki
A former leader of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Chief Emmanuel Nwobo, and the Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Business Development, Chief Oguzor Offia- Nwali, are bickering over the proposed N500 billion cement manufacturing plant in the state.
Governor Francis Nwifuru had disclosed that plans were underway for the establishment of a new cement factory at Nkalagu, in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state.
Nwifuru, who conducted Chinese Contractors round NIGERCEM, Nkalagu, which has been in moribund since 20 years, explained that the bottlenecks surrounding the reactivation of the old factory informed government’s decisions to establish a new one .
“We have 50 million tons of limestone in Nkalagu and 23 million tons at Effium, and if put together will sustain the factory for a minimum of 30 years”, he disclosed on Monday, during the visit to NIGERCEM.
But Nwobo picked holes on the proposed N500 billion cement factory, saying that the state doesn’t need such capital intensive project currently. He said what the state needs now is ease of doing business, an investment friendly environment where the private sector can thrive.
“The politics of a cement factory is beyond a government that could not complete two flyovers and two kilometre roads in three years. It is like a local government trying to build a modern oil refinery. It is like Enugu State living in yesterday by going into coal mining by herself at Ngwo.
“What Ebonyi State needs now is the ease of doing business, an investment friendly environment where the private sector can thrive. A state that cannot fund a rice processing company that is viable only in December; a state that cannot deliver even one commercial airplane after making 10 promises and renovating a federal airport with more than N21 billion.
“A state that has spent hundreds of millions of naira to renovate a pipe production company, only for the manager to abscond into Facebook and yet to sell even one pipe to any construction site in the state.
“A state that could not manage a building material company after putting hundreds of millions in its renovation; a state that still uses old tippers for waste evacuation, and manual labour for contracted roads; a state that could not revive an already existing waste plant; a state that could not open up roads on a well celebrated industrial estate.
“Such a state cannot build a new cement factory. That is the truth and you can believe what you want to. Investors are ready to invest in any venture once the state becomes investor friendly which, today, it is not. Middle class business men cannot break even. Small scale businesses are struggling. The entire private sector is in comatose. Capital flight is on the increase. Then how can a state that struggles to operate a shopping mall suddenly build a private cement factory without it looking like a joke. The state should attract investors and be truthful about it”, he said.
Reacting to Nwobo’s claims, Offia-Nwali accused him of being mischievous by not substantiating his claims. He argued that the state government has the capacity to establish the new cement factory contrary to Nwobo’s claims.
“Even a primary school pupil understands that the Ebonyi State government has the financial capacity, manpower, and professional technocrats required to execute the anticipated project excellently and diligently”.
The commissioner said Nwobo’s numerous assertions that most state-owned industries in the state were not functional were far from the truth, saying that empirical facts on the ground proved the former lawmaker otherwise.
“You may wish to visit the Ebonyi Pipe Production Industry to verify the facts. It would do you and your cohorts a great deal of good to obtain firsthand information on whatever you wish to criticise before jumping to conclusions, so as to avoid making public statements that are baseless and unfounded.
“Again, the Ebonyi Airport that you are trying to de-market today was the one you supervised as the then Hon. Commissioner for Special Projects, and you even ate the money released by the former governor that was meant to be given to the aviation officers that came to evaluate the project under your supervision, and that was one of the reasons you were sacked as commissioner. I implore you to understand that the growth of every state is gradual, and the state airport is no exception.
“Finally, it baffles me that a man of your status would be bold enough to tell blatant lies in a bid to score cheap political points. Far and near, the citizens of Ebonyi State are extolling and applauding the giant strides of the current administration, particularly its excellence in constructing durable road networks across every part of the state, especially in the hinterlands.
“There are hundreds of ongoing road projects across all autonomous communities in the state. Many of these road projects have already been completed, and they are enhancing economic growth and facilitating the movement of our people in numerous ways”, Offia-Nwali said.
