Oshiomhole: Why I Failed to Build Industries in Edo
Oshiomhole: Why I Failed to Build Industries in Edo
Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State on Thursday gave reasons why his administration did not build any industry in the state, saying it was not in his campaign promise, but that what he did promise was to create the enabling environment for investments to thrive in the state.
Oshiomhole who stated this against the backdrop of insinuations by the opposition that he in his seven years of government, no single industry was built at a town-hall meeting marking his seventh year in office, said the industry purportedly built by the previous government was done to siphon government funds.
He said of the four industries, namely, Fertilizer plant, Auchi; Cassavita Industry, Uromi; Chemical Plant; Ikpeshi; and Fruit Juice Factory, Ehor built by the previous administration, all was built with second hand equipments at inflated prices.
For instance, he asked if anyone has ever drunk or bought any of these products, adding that his administration tried selling them (industries) but no buyer was willing to purchase because of their depreciating value.
“The only value of these industries are the land spaces they occupy,” Oshiomhole stated, noting that the same previous government in their usual characteristic sold Okpella Cement with the intention to use it as a base for re-bagging of cement until he waded in, disclosing that very soon, Okpella Cement Industry would come back on stream through a private initiative.
According to the governor, “Our responsibility is to get the private sector build industries by creating the enabling environment and not to build any.”
Oshiomhole who promised to leave a robust revenue for his successor in office, further said that in the past seven years of his administration, a lot of private initiatives have been built, giving the establishment of furniture company using bamboo at Anegbete as example because government was able to build roads in that area which in turn attracted that private company to the area.
On Bendel Brewery, Governor Oshiomhole, he disclosed that the court case between Churchgate, the core investors and the company contributed to the stalling of progress and non-rehabilitation of the company, but promised however that with negotiation with AMCON who has bought over the debt of about N1 billion with an agreement to inject the sum of N23.5 million monthly until the debt is liquidated, assured that very soon, Bendel Brewery would back.
On the state of roads in the state especially Benin City, capital of the state, the governor promised mass rehabilitation of roads and the continuation of existing ones, saying that the reason for this was as a result of the rains which according to him not conducive for road construction and rehabilitation.
“Now that the rains appear to have subsided and the dry season fast approaching, we have spoken with all the contractors working on our roads and they have been mobilised and would soon go back to site. This is in addition to the rapid response agency to patch up and resurface bad spots with the metropolis”, he promised, assuring that in the next 12 months, all projects initiated by his administration would be completed, leaving none behind.
Dignitaries at the event include the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Ehenede Erediauwa; the Otaru of Auchi, Alhaji Aliru Momoh Ikelebe III; and other traditional rulers in the state, Prof. Pat Utomi of Lagos Business School; APC Members in the House of Representatives and Senate, state assembly parliamentarians, civil commissioners in the state among others.
