Chief Sir Moses Ezukwo takes over the reins of NCCIMA leadership

Ezeakukwu Emmanuel Nsoedo

Chief Sir Moses Ezukwo (Ugwunwammadu) achieved another milestone by becoming the 11th President of the Nnewi Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NCCIMA).

Engr Ilozue chaired the occasion as Engr Emeka Nzewi had a flight situation, hence, he could not make it to the function.

One of the special guests of honor, His Excellency, Mr Peter Obi could not be there in person to witness Sir Moses Ezukwo begin his presidency, however, he sent a message through Barrister Ugochukwu Ezeani.

Barrister Ezeani took the stage and read the message of support from Mr. Obi to the incoming President, Chief Sir Ezukwo which touched on the quality of his person.

Mr. Peter Obi commended Sir Ezukwo on his honesty and forthrightness. Mr. Obi Sir Moses Ezukwo is one of the most honest people he knew. He believed that the Nnewi Chamber of Commerce would go a long way if he could bring that quality of integrity and honesty that he possessed.

One of the highlights of the event was the arrival of Hon Chris Udechukwu, Commissioner of Trade, Commerce, and Industry, who represented His Excellency, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, the Governor of Anambra State.

Hon Udechukwu acknowledged the Nnewi people as he described the Nnewi Chamber of Commerce as the Nnewi people. Hon Udechukwu said that he brings good news to the members regarding businesses. “The government is doing a lot to prepare businesses for the present and future such as:

i. Free Education: is the key for the future generations to possess the quality of education that will help them remain competitive.

ii. Zero pothole policy: The Governor wants to ensure smooth movement on the road from point A to point Z without being hindered by potholes.

iii. Fibre optic cable: Mr. Governor is laying fiber optic cable across the state to enable everyone, especially, business practitioners to be on high-speed internet services wherever they may be in Anambra state.

iv. Power Supply: The government is pressing on with sourcing of power supply to make doing business more efficient. He noted that Industries in Nnewi run on private generators for their operations.

“We have gas in abundance, as well as solid minerals in Anambra state.” The government is determined to invest in power leveraging on the gas deposits, said Hon Udechukwu. He went further to say that a lot of investors are interested to invest in Anambra state.

v. Industrial parks: The government will develop industrial parks across some parts of the state. The government will build another airport to complement the teeming population of 8 million Anambrarians.

vi. The government will facilitate financing at a much cheaper rate than what the Banks are asking.

vii. He encouraged those present to key into the government program design for the state, especially for businesses in Anambra state. He encouraged everyone to pay attention whenever the government calls on them because many great things are being packaged for the state.

The keynote speaker, Anayo Nwosu addressed the present business climate as it affects businesses and proffer some solutions.

Anayo Nwosu emphasized that there is a big problem with the economy. Therefore, everyone must be on his guard, he cautioned. He said that those who are still able to do business must have realized that they are no longer able to afford certain things they used to do without hesitation. People have begun to cut down on their expenditures. Many are no longer using their big-capacity vehicles, rather, many are using economy vehicles. The cost of fuel for those huge vehicles is prohibitive. There is a huge inflation in the country. This means that there is a lot of naira chasing the goods out there.

In a bid to tame the situation, the CBN is trying to control money flow and circulation in the economy, Chief Anayo said. He said the CBN has raised significantly mandatory deposits by Banks with the Apex bank. The Banks must deposit 45% of their intakes from customers with the CBN. In effect, reducing the funds available to Banks to lend to their customers. Chief Anayo encouraged any person who owed the bank to try and pay it off. He sounded the warning because of the hike of the interest rate, and the potential that it will go up further.

With the mandatory deposit with the CBN by Banks to reduce the cash in circulation, inflation refused to go down. The CBN resorted to another drastic measure which compounds the ability of Banks to serve their customers. The CBN increased the interest rate to 26 percent. That invariably will make it difficult for businesses to borrow money from Banks to run their businesses. Additionally, what would businesses do to cover the cost of money with respect to profit? Despite the monetary policy of the government, the inflation keeps on rising, Anayo said. On top of these issues, the industries in Nnewi run on their own generating power set. Therefore, it is incumbent on the Nnewi Chamber and government advisers to inform the government that their policy needs a rethink.

Chief Anayo believes that those formulating the policies are driven by theories but lack the knowledge of being practitioners like you here in the hall. Anayo believes one of the issues with the policy of CBN is that Nigeria is not exporting anything, but imports everything. Therefore, it puts a lot of pressure on Naira. He advised the businesses to find ways to source alternative energy to DISCOs because the price will keep going up. He advised them to consider the use of solar systems and others, etc.

There is a need to innovate to make your goods and services to sell more efficiently and effectively, Anayo advised.

Sir Rob Anwatu (former Chairman of Enugu Chamber and currently, Chairman, Board of Trustees of Enugu Chamber of Commerce) addressed the issue of how to resuscitate the economy.

Anwatu addressed it within the topic assigned to him: Rejuvenation of the Nigerian Economy

He did not want to believe that Nigeria’s economy is a failed economy. He noted, however, that corruption, levies, and other issues are stifling the businesses.

A lot of businesses have disappeared from the Nigerian landscape. He fondly remembered the Leventis shop in Marina Lagos where he used to go to purchase products. He noted that Leventis was much bigger than ShopRite or Roban stores.He said he is speaking from a practical businessman’s perspective.

Anwatu saw corruption in the system as an albatross that held Nigeria down. He questioned how the salary of a worker could not pay for a bag of rice or 20 liters of diesel.

Sir Rob Anwatu believes that what Nigeria needs is purposeful leadership as everything hinges on it to succeed. He questioned several decisions of the government such as allocating so much money to Hajj at 60 billion naira over a student loan scheme at 5 billion naira. That defeats the aim of development.

Sir Rob once more questioned how twelve universities would share 1 billion naira for hostels, while billions of Naira were allocated to building car garages for members of National Assembly.

Such anomalies in his opinion must be addressed through purposeful leadership for Nigeria to succeed.

The investiture of the and the award ceremonies went fine. Dr. OJ Mbonu, etc were honored.