Okey Ezeh visits Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema APGA, vows to fix Power, Agriculture

Accomplished banker and governorship aspirant in Imo State on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. OkeyEzeh has assured Imo people that the poor  electricity situation in the State which has hampered businesses will soon be a thing of the past.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday briefly after consulting with the APGA leadership in Oguta LGA, the CEO of Savvycorp Limited, which is a leading treasury management, financial and investment advisory in Africa, stated that he has developed a roadmap which will transform Imo State, an entity he described as being very unbearably misgoverned. He regretted the economic stagnation in the State and averred that it is unjustifiable for Imo people to live in penury amid plenty.
According to him, “Oguta and Ohaji/Egbema are abundantly rich in natural resources that can give a better life to the people and also develop our State. We cannot grow an economy without reliable and affordable access to power. New investors will not consider Imo State as a location to site their job-creating projects, nor will existing investors and businesses thrive in an environment almost entirely reliant on generators. It is therefore an utmost priority in my blueprint for Imo’s economic recovery and growth known as the Imo Marshal Plan (I-MAP) to find temporary as well as long-term solutions to the power shortage in the State. We simply cannot allow our economic and social development to be at the mercy of a power distribution company that the State Government holds no stake in and, therefore, has no influence over,” the consummate professional opined.
Highlighting some opportunities in the State which he hopes to harness when elected, Ezeh said, “The use of flared gas in Ohaji/Egbema to generate power is an obvious opportunity for increasing the power generation capacity in the State, and we intend to collaborate with technical partners to identify the best technologies for maximum return.  The Government will partner with credible investors to set up Independent Power Plants in the State by harnessing the abundant gas potentials in Ohaji.
“The I-MAP has also developed policies to reactivate high-potential industries that are currently comatose in the areas, especially Adapalm, and turn them into revenue-generating businesses through joint-venture participation from private sector investors. Investor participation will be maximized by positioning the State Government as a reliable and consistent player in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), and as a guarantor for long-term off-take agreements.”
The investment expert also took a swipe at successive governments in the State for their neglect of agriculture. He insisted that, “Agriculture is supposed to be the mainstay of the economy of the State, but the governments have only paid lip-service to it because of the cheap money coming from oil. The I-MAP will take Imo back to the basics, which is to reinvent the State agriculturally. Imo is blessed. We have over four thousand hectares of oil palm in Adapalm. But these hectares are almost obsolete. The I-MAP will intervene and resuscitate them through the introduction of modern technologies and the use of improved, high-yielding and pest-resistant palm seedlings.
“Today, palm oil is far more valuable and lucrative in the international market than crude oil, because when you extract petro-chemicals, it comes at a cost. If you sell a barrel of crude oil at sixty dollars, that will be the gross price. To extract one barrel of crude oil, you will spend between twenty-two and twenty-five dollars, in addition to its collateral damage to the environment.
“So, it is infinitely better to focus on agriculture, because it has a future, it has sustainability. We have limitless ability to produce palm oil and we have comparative advantage in its production. And if you looked at the ECOWAS sub-Region, for instance, the demand for palm oil and palm oil-derived products outstrips the supply. Yet we have done nothing about that. Agriculture is our today, our tomorrow, our everything,”he maintained.