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The Vice President, Kashim Shettima, on Thursday, assured the people of the South-East that President Bola Tinubu has the best of intentions for them.
Shettima, who was in Enugu State for the opening of the 5th Expanded National Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic in Enugu, gave Tinubu’s commitment to tackle the infrastructural deficit and erosion ravaging the South-East.
Shettima said Tinubu gave some appointments to the Igbo people to demonstrate his love for the South-East.
“The President told me that I must come to Enugu and assure the good people of Enugu that our government must do whatever we can to support the people of South-East.
“Enugu holds a special place in my heart. President Bola Tinubu has a special place in his heart for Enugu State and the South-East. This led to the passing of the South East Development Commission into law and his quick assent to the bill and the headquarters of the SEDC is here in Enugu.
“Energy is a sinequanon for any industrial growth. Without power, we’ll forget about industrialisation. To this effect, Mr. President picked a daughter of Abia State, Engr. Jennifer Adighije, as the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company of Nigeria, to champion the course of lighting up the South-East,” Shettima said.
While lamenting that erosion was already affecting the livelihood of Nigerians in the region, Shettima disclosed that President Tinubu had concluded plans to have discussions with the National Assembly and the governors of the South-East in order to come up with a workable solution to permanently deal with the erosion within the region.
He said: “The problems of the South-East are problems of infrastructural deficit; problems of erosions that are affecting the very livelihood of our people.
“We’ve made arrangements with him (Speaker). We will sit with the leadership of the National Assembly. We’ll sit with the governors of the South-East and come up with a whole solution to deal with the erosion especially, in the states like Anambra and Abia, and even Enugu is not left out of this scourge of erosion. These are issues that need practical solutions.
Shettima said he was impressed by the development that Enugu State had witnessed under Governor Peter Mbah.
“The Governor of Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, is humble and hardworking. Let’s put politics aside, Mbah means well for the people of Enugu State.
“Until the emergence of Governor Peter Mbah, Enugu was a sleepy town that didn’t even have a water supply.
“So, Your Excellency, we want to thank you. We want to commend you. We want to identify with you. Honestly, I’m quite pleased to be in your midst this afternoon. We’ve had some very fruitful discussions with the honourable Speaker.
“An in all honesty, in terms of governance, we’ve never had it so good on the South-East like the current dispensation.
“We have to sustain that brotherhood, that relationship for the good of our people. Through development, through investments in education, we can change the narratives from negativity to positivity.
“I was especially enamoured of his security projects. I was pleased by his investment in supplying water to parts of the state capital and most importantly, education is the game changer,” the Vice President said
He called for closer collaboration between the Federal Government and Mbah to accelerate the development in Enugu State.
“If I say I was impressed by what I saw In Enugu, it will is an understatement. I was overwhelmed by the giant strides recorded by Governor Mbah and his team. He has embraced modernity. He has embraced digital technology. Most of the things I saw are urban guard technology, state-of-the-art security infrastructure, beautiful road network. He is doing excellently well and he is worthy to be emulated by other governors across the length and breadth of this nation.
“He is humble and a very sellable person. He is doing well and the world needs to know what he is doing. Honestly, I have learnt a lot. I will come back to learn more about mart education. I am obsessed with education and so is the governor.
“We will see how we can partner because we are now in the phase of development. Politics is over. We have to collate into a single force and face the challenges of underdevelopment in our nation,” the Vice President said.
Shettima, who reiterated the Federal Government’s support for MSMEs, announced a grant of N150,000 for business persons, saying “It is an outright grant that does not require beneficiaries to repay.”
“Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce that His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has mandated that a grant of N150,000 each be awarded to outstanding exhibiting MSMEs at today’s event.
“Rest assured that this is an outright grant, and the beneficiaries will not need to repay it.”
In his remarks, Governor Mbah hailed the Vice President for being a champion of MSMEs’ growth in Nigeria, noting that he had only moments earlier inaugurated the Enugu State Fashion and Garment Hub, a facility developed by the Office of the Vice President in partnership with the Enugu State Government through the Enugu SME Centre.
“So, MSMEs are clearly the backbone and lifeblood of our economy. But as important as MSMEs may be, their success is no chance occurrence. They thrive only through careful policies that enhance the ease-of-doing-business climate, comprising key enablers like the sustained provision of infrastructure, security, efficient legal and regulatory framework, among others.
“And we simply cannot thank the federal government enough for that. This programme syncs perfectly with our economic vision.
“The Expanded National MSME Clinics, organised by the Federal Government in collaboration with Enugu State, provide a dynamic platform for MSMEs to access essential support from government agencies and private sector stakeholders.”
