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Vice President Kashim Shettima has called on the people of the South-East region to leverage their abundant mineral deposits to drive industrialization in the country.
The Vice President made the remarks at the Vision 2050 South-East Stakeholders Forum, themed “Charting a Shared Vision for Sustainable Prosperity for South-East Nigeria”, held at the International Conference Centre, Enugu, on Wednesday.
He explained that the federal government is committed to regional development, anchored on aligning national policy, resources, and political will with the Southeast Vision 2050.
According to the Vice President, the South-East is strategic in the federal government’s development initiatives because of its entrepreneurial spirit. He also called on leaders in the region to galvanize support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Vice President Shettima used the occasion to applaud Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State for his efforts in restoring peace in Amasiri and Oso Edda.
He noted that Governor Nwifuru handled the crisis with maturity and impartiality, expressing confidence that the approach will bring lasting peace to the area.
Speaking on the topic “Feeding and Building the South-East Region for Agro- and Solid Minerals-Led Industrialization”, Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru said Ebonyi State is deliberately working to harness the state’s rich mineral deposits to drive national development in general, and the South-East region in particular.
Governor Nwifuru expressed immense gratitude for the President’s vision for the federating units, especially the South-East, evidenced by the creation of the South-East Development Commission, SEDC.
“Ebonyi State is richly endowed with lead, zinc, limestone, salt, and granite. Under a reform-oriented approach, we will shift the emphasis towards formal licensing, investor screening, community engagement, and the explicit goal of linking extraction to local processing.
“Our roadmap is anchored on the strategic vision of establishing at least two cement factories.
“We are actualizing this vision because of our proximity to cement raw materials, limestone, and gypsum.
“Additionally, we are working towards processing lead and zinc to feed metal fabrication industries and leveraging salt resources to supply food processing and chemical industries.”
The Governor commended the commission for the initiative and called on his fellow governors to lend their support for the full actualization of the vision.
Shettima urges South-east to harness mineral wealth to drive industrialization
