IN a strategic move to harness the untapped potential of the South East and put the region on the path of real development, some stakeholders on Thursday in Enugu launched what is to be known as South East Nigeria Economic Commission {SENEC}.
Speaking during the programme, the Chairman of SENEC Steering Committee, Chris Okoye, said part of the reasons for the efforts at creating regional economic base for the South East was “the situation in the country which challenges every Igbo person to look inwards, and if they must go outside their zone, to do so as a matter of choice, not necessity.”
According to Okoye, the South East occupies a section of the country flowing with human capital and natural resources. “The greatest challenge we have always had is working as a team. But we do not believe that any challenge ahead of us is insurmountable,” he said. By working as a team, SENEC, he said, can facilitate economic and social transformation of the South East region.
Okoye noted that SENEC has created a world class network for Ndigbo of the highest intellectual caliber in both public and private sector to move the initiative forward. “While we await every state’s assent to SENEC as a statutory body, the commission is forging ahead with full speed. Whether as value brokers or consultants or facilitators, we believe that we can add our quota to SENEC. And that is why you are here,” he said.
The Legal Sub-Committee of SENEC which had its inaugural meeting, Okoye said, is under the chairmanship and guidance of Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) and Mrs. A.J Offiah (SAN), former Attorney General of Enugu State as its vice chairman. Prof. Ukwu I. Ukwu of Ebony State University, Chairman of SENEC Study Group Sub-Committee, said that the ideal behind the commission had been on for quite sometimes. “We discovered that we needed to set up SENEC in 2006. We are operating within the law to move SENEC forward under a sustainable legal framework. When people say Nigeria is doing very well because the economy is growing at seven per cent, I laugh, because seven per cent is not enough to achieve the vision 20-20. We have to create new ways of doing things,” he said.
According to him, SENEC is going to find a sustainable way to address the issue of unemployment in the country. The stronger any part of Nigeria the stronger the rest of the country,” he said.
The Attorney General, Commissioner for Justice of Abia State, Umeh Kalu described SENEC as a laudable project, desirable for the South East.
