By NewsBits
The Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NSCCIMA) says it is focused on increasing Nsukka Zone agricultural export potentials to open up the zone’s economic frontier.
The President of NSCCIMA, Barr. Sam Otoboeze disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Enugu on Friday on the forthcoming investiture of the 2nd President of the Chamber. The investiture, which will take place at the Adada Hall in Nsukka on Nov. 11, would also be used to inaugurate the Executive Council of NSCCIMA.
Otoboeze said that the Chamber was discussing with the various governments and even the Bank of Industry (BOI) to restore the former glory of agriculture in Nsukka and make it more worthwhile and profitable to both local and foreign investors. He noted that the chamber would concentrate on export crops that the agrarian zone of Nsukka has comparative advantage and had been doing well for some years now.
According to him, we are looking forward to putting more emphasis in production of our local Nsukka pepper, which is unique all over the world and some other local spices indigenous to the Nsukka zone.
“This will be accompanied by other export cash crops such as cashew nuts, honey, sorghum, and lots more. This will make investors and business concerns in agriculture gain and earn in dollars and other hard foreign currencies,” he said.
The chamber boss said that NSCCIMA was also keying into the vision of the state government in agriculture and would be discussing with the state and Federal Government to attract more viable agricultural projects and businesses in Nsukka zone.
He said that investors can take advantage of relatively cheap labour within the zone, energetic and productive youthful population and generally honest people who are not greedy. On the issue of security, Otoboeze said that the chamber was working on the non-kinetic aspect of security through sensitisating the youths on negative tendencies of criminality as well as empowering them through skill acquisition and other forms of empowerment.
“NSCCIMA is harnessing every opportunity in Nsukka to make the zone the inevitable economic hub of agro production, aggregation and processing, and industrialisation in the country for investors,” he said.
On the Ingrace Vehicles and Machinery Company facility tour undertaken by NSCCIMA members, the chamber boss said that the easy-operating agricultural machinery discovered in the company’s showrooms would help in the agricultural transformation envisaged by the chamber.
“Since the machinery is easy to operate; the spare parts are here in the state and they are built to withstand rugged use, then, it is good for our envisaged export-driven agriculture revolution in Nsukka zone,” he said.
