We are into Politics to Rebuild Anambra State - Ifeanyi Ubah

The Chairman of Capi­tal Oil and Gas Indus­tries Limited, Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, has said that his aim of entering into politics, es­pecially the governorship race in Anambra State, is to positively impact the lives of the populace.
Ubah, who was addressing APC stakeholders, market executives and his teeming supporters yesterday at his country home in Umuanuka, Otolo-Nnewi, Anambra State, said that God has blessed him and that he is seeking political power to be able to work for Anambra people.

According to him, “We are into politics to rebuild Anambra State. There is nothing I need as an indi­vidual that I have not gotten. I am contented materially and my aim of joining politics is to help change the face of Anambra State and its people.
“Leadership of a state like Anambra is not just for anybody. It is for people that have track records and people that have the capacity and vision.
“Capital Oil and Gas Indus­tries is the biggest of its kind in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria today. Capital Oil alone contributes over 45% of the total oil and gas sold in the Nigerian market every day. This is built through our vision and it is our intention to replicate this feat in Anambra and to make the state a business hub with opportunities for prosperity”.
He said that the present eco­nomic crisis hitting Nigeria is not the fault of the federal government but the inability of state governors to harness business and econom­ic opportunities and create wealth for their states.
According to him, “Ndigbo have conquered Nigeria economi­cally but state governors in the Igbo nation have failed to utilize oppor­tunities available to them to create wealth for their states.
“Anambra, for instance, has continued to go down econom­ically, instead of moving up be­cause we have bad economic man­agers. There is no nation that is so blessed with business opportunities than the Igbo people, and Anambra in particular. But Anambra cannot sustain the business spirit because the state has no support from gov­ernment.
“So, it is our plan to resurrect the business spirit among Anambra people by supporting businessmen and women in the state.”
On his decision to run under the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Ubah said that Anambra needs to belong to the government at the centre so as to be able to negotiate certain things that the state cannot afford to do on its own such as airport, seaport, and a whole lot of things.
He said that what matters in a journey is not the vehicle but the driver who determines the safety of passengers on board.
Dr. Ubah further stated that with conscientious intervention­ist policy, the commercial drive potential of Anambra State can be enhanced to become a commercial hub of the entire Sub-Sahara Afri­ca, noting that the state is blessed with ideas that an replicate the Chi­nese kind of economic recovery.
"We are blessed with the ideas that can replicate the Chinese type of economic recovery here in An­ambra State if government under­stands its roles in commerce. It is not just about collecting tax but to create commercial enhancement policy relationship between it and business owners.
"With government partnership with the traders and other business owners in the state, we can create a thriving local economy in Anam­bra State that will make it a com­mercial hub in Sub Sahara.”
Dr. Ubah pointed out that An­ambra State must think beyond waiting for federal government's intervention stating that " we can build a strong economy on our own without looking the direction of the center.
He added that "we as a state must get ambition toward en­hancing our economic potentials by partnering with the traders in our state. The 21st century is not a century for lazy sub national gov­ernments, rather a century that beckons on states to build a thriv­ing local economy.
"You can't grow commercial activities in any territory where the traders or investors are not making profit, however attracting business to the state is not enough, but mak­ing policy that will reduce the cost of doing business in the state and creating profit margin that will en­courage business expansion which will in turn aid our economic re­covery. Without creating map for commercial activities, we will re­main stagnant economically.”
The publisher of The AU­THORITY Newspapers said that the Igbo race is endowed with the potential to rival China in doing business, but regretted that the businessmen and women in the zone lack the requisite support of their state governments which their Chinese counterparts do enjoy.
"We are the only black race that can mimic the Chinese style of doing business but unfortu­nately our business players do not get government support like that of their Chinese counterpart. If I have the opportunity to gov­ern Anambra State, I will not just replicate but internalize the Chi­nese model of commerce here in Anambra State.”
Dr Ubah who speaks over four western languages and about five African languages fluently stated that his knowledge of in­ternational business politics and that of local economy will help him achieve his set goals on is­sues of creating synergy between the international business com­munity and the local community.
"I understand international business politics and how to syn­ergize with foreign and local inter­est institutions for the benefit of our state commerce. The point is that a 21st century business com­munity needs government with knowledge of commerce to thrive.
Some of the market leaders who spoke during the interac­tive session at the forum stated that they were ready to partner a government with robust business policy that would uplift the local economy.
According to Chief Okeke, "We have been left in the lurch as we continue to struggle with our individual efforts devoid of inter­ventionist policy support from the government. We see sincerity in your proposed policy and we can­not wait to partner with you when elected to ensure that robust pol­icies come to pass for our overall best benefits."
Another market leader said "I am not a politician but I can­not wait to align with Dr Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah toward his gover­norship aspiration, he is a busi­nessman who understands the plights of business people and cannot wait to see him becoming the governor of Anambra State, good enough he understands the challenges associated with busi­ness especially the ones facing us in Anambra State."
On her part, Mrs. Ebube stated that "until we have gov­ernment that looks beyond col­lection of taxes from us, we will always achieve little. We have what it takes to be the commercial hub of West Africa but we are living below our potential due to lack of government support.”

(Authority Newspapers)