Ujah Chidiebere, Enugu.
The popular saying that One man’s lost is another man’s gain is proving true in the massive economic migration going on from Imo State to Ebonyi.
Reliable data collated from journalists and research assistants deployed to both States by the #RealmsofTruth show that the trans State migration could be pinned down, majorly to the failure of political leadership in one State and modest political success by the other.
Our correspondents gathered that the economic boom experienced in Ebonyi from April 2019 to September, 2019 is unprecedented in the State’s history. The State’s economic development index show a sharp rise, with over 85 % of new investments coming from Imo State.
The research show a sharp decline in the real estate sector in Imo State, while that of Ebonyi experienced a tremendous boost within the period under review.
Linking the disparage fortunes of the sister States to political leadership, Professor Uzo Anyanwu of the Department of Economics, Federal University, opined that;
“I think Ebonyi was able to separate political differences from its development goals, hence, the encouraging boom it is experiencing, infrastructure wise and economically. Dave Umahi, obviously, did not agree, politically, with his former boss and predecessor, Dr. Martin Elechi, but that did not stop him from sustaining the laudable projects of his predecessor, and improving on them. He paid contractors, engaged by his predecessor and sustained the development roadmap. Today, Ebonyi is prepared to absorb the massive outflow of investments coming from Imo State.”
He blamed the governor of Imo State for scaring off investors in his State through unguarded and caustic speeches.
“From the day he was declared the governor-elect of that State, the Ihedioha put jitters down the spines of investors. His statements were unbecoming of one who wanted anything good for his people. You know, businessmen don’t play with their investments, most of them did not wait for their investments to be liquidated before they started relocating to a more friendly State. Ebonyi was ready, infrastructurally and politically to absorb this massive influx of investors and their investments.”
“I think it boils down to political maturity and sincerity of individual politician. After all, both Ihedioha and Umahi are of the same political Party, and their major opponents are of the same political Party. But, while one understood and respected the boundaries between politics and governance, the other played politics with everything. Today, we know who is at the receiving end – the people.
Our correspondents also identified insecurity as a contributing factor in the massive relocation of investments from Imo. They spoke with some investors who recently moved from Imo State to Ebonyi, and some of them confirmed that apart from political issues, another reason they were forced to move their investments out of Imo was the insecurity.
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