Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has appointed Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa as Chairman of the Committee for the establishment of the Council of Igbo Business Leaders.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, disclosed this during the formal inauguration of the committee in Enugu recently.
According to Iwuanyanwu, the committee has the mandate of creating a united and credible voice to speak for the business community in Igbo land, as well as interact and liaise with both international and national authorities and other agencies with a view to instilling an enabling business environment in the South-East geopolitical zone.
He then charged the committee to work hard and immediately establish the Council of Igbo Business Leaders with the following mandate:
“Create a united and credible voice that will speak for the business community in Igbo land, interacting and liaising with international, national, regional, state authorities, and other agencies with a view to creating an enabling business environment and attracting investment to Igbo land.
“Actively promote the economic redevelopment of the Igbo Nation by motivating and encouraging a conscious and deliberate investment in the homeland by Igbo businessmen and women ( including sponsoring big-ticket joint ventures) with the aim of making Igbo land competitive with other regions of Nigeria and the world.
“Give recognition to Igbo businessmen and women who have taken initiatives to establish significant businesses in Igbo land, thereby creating job opportunities for our people and reducing youth unemployment and poverty in the region.
“Provide a sustainable source of financial and other support to Ohanaeze Ndigbo to help it achieve its lofty goals for the well-being and protection of Igbo people and their interests in Nigeria and the world at large, to work to create and sustain a credible image for Igbo businesses, products, and services, and to help to stop all forms of unfair business practices in the Igbo Nation.”
The Ohanaeze leader further expressed confidence that Ohuabunwa, a one-time Chairman of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), a former President of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), and Past President of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), among others, is poised to redefine the identity of Ndigbo under this redevelopment agenda
He said: “As a former Vice-Chairman of the Ohanaeze Strategy and Planning Committee and recently a presidential aspirant in the last elections, we are confident Ohuabunwa has the requisite experience and exposure to lead this team to a successful accomplishment of the above mandate.”
He emphasised that the Igbo Nation was looking up to the Council to chart a kind of Igbo Economic Renaissance, assuring he already had good communication lines with the state governors, who were anxious and poised to work jointly with Ohanaeze and the Council to achieve the lofty goals.
In his response, Ohuabunwa, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, thanked the Ohanaeze leader for finding him and his colleagues worthy of being trusted with such an important assignment at this critical time in the life of Nigeria.
While congratulating Chief Iwuanyanwu for his sterling leadership credentials and the great effort he has brought to bear alongside his team members, he pledged they would work hard and speedily to populate the Council with an array of very great Igbo industrialists and agro-entrepreneurs, among others.
“We have Igbo businessmen and women who already have footprints on Igboland and those who are in the process of doing so, in order to fully prosecute the mandate, trusting in the help of God.”
Dignitaries at the meeting included the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ABC Transport Ltd., Mr. Frank Nneji, who will serve as the Secretary of the committee; Chief Executive Officer of Chicason Industries, Chief Chika Okafor; and an industrialist and businessman, Chief Gbazueagu N. Gbazueagu.
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