You Are Responsible For Southeast Backwardness – Ngige To Igbo Governors

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Chris Ngige, the minister of Labour and Employment has attributed the economically backward state of the southeast region to the lack of visionary leadership by political leaders in the region.

Speaking at the Enugu state investment summit on Friday, April 8, Ngige faulted the governors of Southeast for not taking advantage of regional integration to grow the zone’s economy, Guardian reports.

He said the current economic uncertainty experienced in Nigeria offers everybody, including the government, opportunity to look inwards and diversify the economy.

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He said: “For those of us who go into government, we are not in government to serve ourselves.

“Unfortunately, people go into government and they think they are there for their immediate families.”

According to him, governors in the zone needed to realise that Nigeria is a federation where much depended on what you do for your people in terms of development individually.

“If the governors promote this issue of regional highway, particularly in the agrarian areas, it will be beneficial for posterity and modernise farming in these areas,” Ngige said.

He urged to the governors to open up the zone for investments by embracing business friendly policies and ensuring that good roads were built.

“During my time as governor of Anambra State, we embarked on building federal roads that passed through our state because they were impassable from Niger Bridge. I told my fellow governors then, that we should consider South-East regional road integration in view of the fact that our people are traders and like to move.

“I picked a major road project from Igboukwu up to Isuochi.

“I asked my Abia state counterpart to move it from there into Umuahia and Aba but it was not done,” he said.

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