By David Onwuchekwa Nnewi
Spiritual Director of Soul Awakening Ministry, Nnewi, Anambra State, Prophet Iyke Uzukwu revisited the closure of Ibeto Cement factory with a special appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari to help reopen the factory.
Prophet Uzukwu made this call yesterday in Nnewi when he told our correspondent that it would be in the interest of the national economy to reopen the Ibeto Cement factory.
He first praised President Buhari for his efforts to build and complete the second bridge over the Niger in record time, something he said the country’s previous administrations had failed to achieve.
The Prophet noted that this singular achievement had proven wrong those who in some circles were insinuating that Mr. President hated the Igbo.
He thanked the Federal Minister of Public Works, Baba Tunde Fashiola for having served as an instrument for the construction of the second bridge over the Niger.
Uzukwu, however, said it would further undo the impression that the Igbo people were hated and marginalized, if President Buhari could, without further ado, order the reopening of the Ibeto Cement plant to begin operations.
“President Buhari is the father of all Nigerians regardless of their ethnic nationality. I beg, and indeed, Ndigbo is begging him to reopen the Ibeto Cement factory which has been closed for a long time now.
“An average Igboman is worried as we know the factory would have previously created jobs for over 50,000 Nigerians including Igbo if it had remained open.
“If the factory could engage this huge population, many social vices including kidnapping, armed robbery, cybercrimes and banditry would be reduced to a bare minimum across the country,” he said.
Prophet Uzukwu has issued a wake up call to Ohaneze Ndigbo urging its leaders to add their voice to the Ibeto cement factory issue.
He added that Ohaneze should not just dissipate his energy on the political repositioning of Igbo in Nigeria without looking inward to talk about an issue like the reopening of the Ibeto Cement factory which, he said, he noted, would not only be in the interest of Ndigbo but for all Nigerians.
He said that Ohaneze Ndigbo should explain to Mr. President how badly the Igbo people felt, as long as the cement factory remained closed.
Uzukwu also called for an enabling environment for industries in the Southeast to flourish.
He said that industrialists in the South East should be assisted to have access to industrial gas as an alternative to power supply to facilitate the manufacturing and functionality of the Nnewi industrial cluster as well as other factories scattered in the South area. -East.
He was of the opinion that boosting the products of the petrochemical industry in Eleme would in turn help the industrial clusters in the Southeast.
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