According to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Made-in-Aba goods have generated about N1.4 billion worth of sales in the 24 months since the Made-in-Nigeria campaign was inaugurated.
The governor said this while addressing state House Correspondents in Abuja after meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on the proposed committee on the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Council.
“And we were able to attract about N1.3billion or N1.4 billion on direct sales from the Made-in-Aba shoes, made in Abia dresses and all that,” he said
Along with this statement, he also listed 3 things that his administration did in order to make sure that this feat was achieved. According to him, one of the things his administration did was to provide steady power supply to some parts of Ariaria market, where the shoemaking enterprise is flourishing. His administration was able to do this by moving the responsibility of electricity supply to the area to the agency in charge of the rural power supply.
“It is in the pilot scheme, courtesy of the agency in charge of the rural power supply. Beyond that, we are interfacing and having a better relationship with funding agencies now.” Ikpeazu claimed.
Another step Ikpeazu said was instrumental in boosting the made-in-Aba sales was the hosting of the Made-in-Aba fashion show was held in Abuja and another one was held in New York where they (manufacturers) came face to face with world class designers. As such, the campaign assumed an international dimension.
As a third step, the governor said his administration has completed about 45 roads with about 25 of those roads are in Aba. On further steps that his administration is embarking upon to ensure even greater sales, Ikpeazu also said steady work on roads, electricity, security were ongoing.
“We are doing the first flyover in the entire Abia state in Aba and the cement roads we are doing; our roads have survived three rainy seasons now and they are standing.” the governor said.
