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• Explains how Uzodimma can sustain Imo as leading tourism industry investments destination
From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The superlative victory of the Super Eagles against South Africa’s Bafana Bafana and the Angolan national in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament did unquantifiable good in once again uniting Nigerians under the Green-White-Green national flag. Tribe and tongue took a back sit as the Super Eagles filed out to battle for national glory on the football pitch. The fights on the social media platform, X, (formally known as Twitter) which had been raging for months among the supporters of the major political parties (LP, APC and PDP) suddenly cooled down as fast fingers took a rest from the keypads of smartphones and all eyes focused on television screens.
Programme Director of Asia Pacific Sports International, Chinedu Nsofor, a researcher and media expert is one of millions of Nigerians who were glued to television screens. In this interview with Sunday Sun, he talks about his earnest desire for Nigeria to win the AFCON Cup. He also proffers solutions to Nigeria’s hash economic situation and the way forward for Imo State’s prosperity.
As a sports man, how do you feel about the qualification of the Super Eagles for the final match of the AFCON tournament which will be played today? Do you think the Eagles can beat Ivory Coast and lift the trophy?
The Super Eagles really made the country proud at a time like this when the country seems divided and disturbed by the current economic situation. For once in a long while, nobody saw himself as either Biafran, Oduduwa or Arewa. Everyone was proud to be a Nigerian. That is the beauty of sports. It is the most unifying platform all over the world today, unifying people of diverse cultures, belief systems or creeds. The Super Eagles really rekindled the patriotic spirit of every Nigerian despite the current challenges in the country. Their victory is a testament to the power of the possibilities of victory over all our challenges as a nation when our collective hopes and patriotic visions are not dashed. I expect this victory to be sustained in the final match which will be between our darling team and the Elephants of Cote D’Ivoire, which is the AFCON host nation. Our boys have never been this much motivated to achieve success in an international tournament in recent times. I wish to most especially appreciate the Nigeria Governors Forum led by the Imo State governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma, for taking the lead in motivating the players unto victory. Motivation is key to victory in sports and any other human endeavour. So, I believe that by the grace of God, they will coast home to victory and further renew our hopes in Nigeria at a time like this through the much anticipated victory at the AFCON Final.
Nigeria is presently experiencing an economic crunch. What is your advice for the Federal Government on how to tackle the situation?
I have always clamoured for massive investment in agriculture especially for export purposes and massive industrialization. Unfortunately, over the years, successive administrations have continued to encourage importation of goods into Nigeria. Even though the previous administration didn’t provide alternatives for the products they banned, the banning of those products was the best way to go for Nigeria and really helped in stabilizing our currency, as Nigerians were forced into investing in rice farming for example and other agro-related production, thereby encouraging self-sufficiency in these areas as a nation and even to export. There should have been consistency and continuation of such good economic policy. Sustained agricultural production would have naturally led to investment in agro-processing enterprises and quickened industrialisation to add value, which in turn would create more employment opportunities. However, the current administration quickly lifted bans on most of the previously banned products and that has placed heavy demands on our scarce foreign exchange thereby shooting up the rate of dollars as against the naira and this has invariably affected the prices of all other goods and services. Therefore, I believe that the government should reverse this policy that has affected the economy badly. The Bola Tinubu administration should rather provide funding, the right fiscal policies and committed, focused support that will encourage indigenous industries to go into production of the previously banned products in Nigeria, while funding agriculture massively for food sufficiency. That would do the miracle. What was needed at the inception of the incumbent administration was just an improvement of the already existing policy direction of the previous administration and not an outright scrapping of the policy on importation.
Governor Hope Uzodimma was recently sworn into office for a second term. What are your expectations from the administration over the next four years? What specific things would you like the government to achieve, to make Imo State better.
I have very high expectations from Governor Hope Uzodimma, just like every other Imolite. In a nutshell, I expect him to faithfully continue to deliver on the good projects he has commenced in the state. In corporate management just as it applies to life, every entity and wise individual needs at some point to do a strategic evaluation of itself or oneself to define what needs to be done and then determine the way to go about it. This is organisations and even individuals do SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis. This is very important. For Imo State, its strength lies in tourism. So, for any government to succeed in the State, there must be massive investment in infrastructure and security, both of which will provide an enabling environment for tourists to come to Imo State to spend their money peacefully, thereby growing the economy of the state and creating business opportunities for the teaming youths of the state. If His Excellency is able to focus on these two areas of massive infrastructure and security, the state will remain the investment destination for hospitality business in Nigeria and that would mean more shared prosperity for the citizens of Imo State as envisioned by his administration, translating into increased business and job opportunities.
