Governor Uduaghan Thrills UNIDO, NEPC, NIPC As He Unfolds Investment/Export Potentials Of Delta State

The Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, CON, has stated that any investment in infrastructural development, such as road construction, provision of water, building of ICT centres, skill training and entrepreneurial development is aimed at industrializing the State based on our new belief in “Delta State Beyond Oil”.

These were the words of Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan during his campaign for industrialization on “Delta State Beyond Oil” to the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) in Abuja. The governor stated that the biggest challenge facing the state is to deal with unemployment outside its oil revenues.

 “Today, we strongly believe in the establishment of micro-credit schemes that will industrialise our state, so everything about our budget is presently focused on industrialising our state. As a state, we are expected to look into other areas to generate non-oil revenue such as from our palm oil, groundnuts, cocoa, cassava, just to mention a few’’. He said the Delta he wants to build, looking at these areas, has made it compulsory for the state to use its current oil revenues to develop rural infrastructure to be able to tap the potentials in these non-oil sectors.

While soliciting the collaboration of NEPC in this regard, the governor stated: “We are here to see how we can work together, not just as Delta State, but the whole Nigeria must look beyond oil and see how to grow the non-oil sector for the benefits of the people’’.

  In his address at the occasion, the Executive Director of NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, said: “Your visit is both timely and strategic for a number of reasons. It was only on Tuesday, July 15, that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the GDP for Quarter 1 of 2014, which stated that the country’s GDP grew by 6.22 per cent. In that report, while the oil sector recorded a negative real growth rate of 6.60 per cent, indicating a better performance over the past two quarters, mono-oil sector recorded a real growth rate of 8.21 per cent in quarter 1 of 2014, performing better than oil’’.

Awolowo sated that this upward trend in the growth of the non-oil sector can only be attributed to intensified drive by the government and partners to diversify the economy and think beyond a monolithic economy, which is oil-based.  “The reason your visit is strategic is the known fact that Delta is one of the major oil-producing states in the country. However, you have made a very commendable move by conceptualising and articulating a holistic strategy for your vision of “Delta Beyond Oil”.

He itemised the possible areas the Council can collaborate with the state to include: strengthening of the state committee on export promotion, identification of a key product from the state, establishment of an export production village for palm oil and its derivatives, among others. In a short presentation on non-oil export potentials and opportunities in Delta State, the Director, Products Development, Mr. Henry Otowo, noted that export opportunities in the state include cassava, palm-oil, palm-oil derivatives, akwa-ocha, leather works, aquatic culture products, cold water starch, industrial chemicals, home furniture, cosmetics, polymer, shrimps, vegetable oil, animal feeds, just to mention a few.

 Otowo, however, revealed that the challenge of capturing statistical data on informal export sector, lack of effective collaboration and co-operation with relevant agencies on export matters, as well as weak infrastructure, need to be tackled.