Abia Govt To Hand Revived Industries to Private Sector

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, says he will only partner with competent companies in the management of moribund industries acquired by the State.

Governor Otti stated this on Friday, in his office, during a meeting with the management team of Nepal Energies, a company with interest to manage the Afro Beverages, one of the moribund industries the State Government recently acquired from the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON).

Gov. Otti explained that the capacity and competence of any prospective investor will be a major factor that will be considered in selecting partners to manage moribund industries recently re-acquired by the Abia State Government.

The Governor, who noted that the State government was being meticulous in selecting investors in order to avoid a repeat of past experiences where industries were revived only to collapse again, explained that the State Government did not acquire the industries to run them directly but to revive them and hand them over to a competent private sector to manage.

“The reason for the acquisition is not for us to go in and run it, as a government, we know where our limits are.

“It would be a disaster after the original visionaries set it up, passed it on, and then it ran aground, and we rescued it, and somebody else comes and runs it aground again.

“So, that is why we are very meticulous, and we are very careful in bringing investors into those organisations.

“It must be people who have the capacity, who have the capital, the competence, the skills to run them. So, for us, what would be very critical is the capacity to manage,” Gov. Otti stated.

Gov. Otti went ahead to say that the revival of those industries was aimed at creating job opportunities, saying that unemployment is a major driver of crime and criminality.

The State Chief Executive commended the Nepal Energies for initiating an industrial project in Ukwa West LGA as well as their involvement in the Plaster Of Paris (POP) Cement production in Aba, with plans to scale up production from 200 tonnes to 1,500 tonnes.

Speaking earlier, the Managing Director of Nepal Energies, Dr Mrs Ngozi Ekeoma, expressed the desire of the company to partner with the State government to acquire and revive the Afro Beverages, one of the industries currently acquired from AMCON by the Abia State Government.

Dr Mrs Ekeoma noted that the return of stable power supply to Aba has created a favourable environment for industrial growth, adding that
the Nepal Group had also partnered with another firm producing POP cement in Abia, with a current production capacity of about 200 tonnes per day and plans to scale up to 1,500 tonnes within the next 18 months.

She said that her company, which operates in the downstream oil and gas sector, also has interest in non-oil businesses, including a detergent manufacturing plant currently being sited in Ukwa West LGA, is ready for the partnership.

“We have come to partner with the State to get one of the industries that is in Abia, that is currently being owned by the Abia State Government.

“We think it’s something that we can revive, revamp, and put it back in a state that it should be.

“We are capable of taking over the industry. This is not the first manufacturing plant that we own.

“As we speak, we are already in partnership with another company producing POP cement in Aba.

“We are currently building our detergent plant , a four – tonnes per hour detergent plant in Ụkwa West. It should start producing before the end of the year,” Mrs Ekeoma explained.