By Jacob Ogodo Abakaliki
Ebonyi state Government and the Bank of Industry (BOI) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at industrialising the state. Th e project which is going to be executed by the state in partnership with BOI will gulp the sum of N4 billion with each contributing N2 billion. Speaking during the signing ceremony at EXCO chambers, Government House, Abakaliki, Governor David Umahi said the target of the partnership was to establish atleast one industry in each of the 150 communities in the state. “
Th ere is a need for Ebonyi people to understand what we have done today. Our target is to establish industry in each of our over 150 communities in Ebonyi state”, he said. He said the reason for going beyond local governments’ level to the communities to site the projects was to adequately tackle the unemployment problem in the state, adding that it would complement the ongoing empowerment of 4000 youth and women by his administration.
He urged government functionaries to get people from their communities to form cooperatives through which they would benefi t from the fund. Umahi further explained that 50% of the fund would be channeled to Agriculture and the remaining 50% for industrialization. He commended the management of BOI for their pragmatic initiatives and urged them to replicate the same in other states of the federation to cushion the unemployment rate in the country. Earlier, the Managing Director of BOI, Dr. Olu kayode Pitan, commended Umahi for fast tracking the partnership especially by putting forward the required funds
