The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, has promised to create new industrial hubs in Aba (Abia State) and Owerri (Imo State), saying the already existing ones would be modernised if elected as president in the 2023 general election.

Tinubu said this at a meeting with leaders of the private sector and trade associations in Owerri, the Imo State capital on Thursday.

The APC presidential standard-bearer said based on his experience and the lessons learnt, he understands the challenges traders, business owners, and people of the South-East are going through.

He said: “My government shall build an economy with a growing industrial base, more and better jobs for our youth and more high-quality home-grown goods to sell and merchandise.

“We shall establish industrial hubs throughout the nation and modernize existing ones. We will encourage and facilitate greater production in places like Owerri and Aba. At the same time, we shall broaden opportunities for you to engage in more international commerce by steering more activity towards ports outside of Lagos such as Onne.

“I envision the Owerri-Port Harcourt and Aba-Port Harcourt corridors becoming more active and lucrative trade and manufacturing corridors than they already are.

“My administration will establish policies that widen your horizons and expand your business reach both in terms of the goods you sell and your geographic reach to new markets.

“Working with the state governments, the CBN and banking industry, we shall embark on a two-pronged credit revolution.

“First, on the sale and supply side, we shall seek to drive down interest rates on business loans, especially for investment in manufacturing as well as small and medium sized enterprises.

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“Second, we seek to make consumer loans more available. This will allow more people to afford and buy more high-quality goods from you. By empowering the consumer, we increase economic activity and prosperity for the overall economy as well as for your individual businesses.

“We will put in place policies that will boost trade and commerce. We will solve the forex crisis and ensure that traders like you have easy access to a unified forex market.

“We shall seek to revive struggling industries in this region and throughout the nation.

“Working with Governor Uzodimma, we shall continue to push to return Avutu Poultry to its status as a world class poultry farm. This will increase food and nutrition while creating jobs and giving us a chance to open new markets. Ada Palm can, once again, become a fulcrum of job creation and foreign currency earnings,” Tinubu stated.

On infrastructure development, the APC presidential flag-bearer said the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri would become fully operational to help large-scale movement of goods across the region, adding that priority would also be placed on the completion of the Abakaliki-Benin section of the rail project, integrating the South-East to the national rail system.

“Our national infrastructure plan shall pay great attention to roadways eaten by erosion and flooding. We shall give traders the sound roads they deserve in order to move goods for the benefit of the rest of the population.

“For those of you in the agricultural sector, commodity exchange boards and other measures will be established to better link local markets and farmers with the global economy while also assuring them minimum prices for their harvests.

“The idea is to boost farm incomes, thus giving farmers greater incentive to produce more.

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“We can hold to little of these good economic things without adequate peace and security. Our response to terror, kidnapping and violent criminality includes increased manpower, better communications and mobility equipment and training,” Tinubu added.

The former Lagos State Governor stated that he would work towards integrating all regions in the country to ensure Nigeria continues to remain in unity.

“For me the unity of this nation is sacrosanct, it is non-negotiable. However, I realize that many people have genuine and painful grievances in need of fair and durable resolution.

“My government will be comprised of people from every section of the country and ready to discuss legitimate grievances with those in search of a peaceful resolution.

“Our nation is still in its infancy compared to other nations. I am proud of how far this nation has come. I also understand the great strides still to be made if we are to build for ourselves a nation of democratic good governance, development, justice, and unity,” Tinubu said.

In his remarks, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, said the meeting was a deliberate strategy of the APC presidential candidate to interface with the business leaders and trade associations in the South-East “so he can factor their positions and views in the business of government when elected”.

The meeting was attended by the APC National Chairman, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu; the party’s vice-presidential candidate, Sen. Kashim Shettima; and Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi; amongst others.

The Star