The National President of Joint Transporters Forum, (JTF), Reverend Elvis Okolie, has bemoaned the lingering insecurity in Anambra State, which has resulted in a dearth of foreign investors.
Okolie, who made this known to Journalists in Awka while fielding press questions on Anambra state at thirty-three, said Anambra at thirty-three years old, should no more be a toddler, but an adult, in its prime, putting energies together for development.
According to him, Anambra state at thirty-three ought to have produced meaningfully, two to four vintage projects within the years in review.
Reverend Okolie, who said the essence of creating Anambra state was nothing other than to further development to every nook and cranny of the state, noted that the reason for creating states was to allow development to trickle down to the people quicker and easier.
“At 33, Anambra’s development index is not too bad and at the same time, not too good,” he said.
He said that in terms of development, Anambra state is still groping in darkness, stressing that the state is not coming up at the pace expected of it, because of the vicious insecurity in the state.
According to him, the insecurity in the state is no longer caused by other tribes, but by Anambrarians themselves.
He said considering its age it is expected that Anambra’s security architecture should be superb, and effective, to handle any security threat faced by the people.
Okolie called on the Anambra State Government and security agencies in the state to take initiatives to address the insecurity in the state.
He observed that in a digital era, the state cannot apply analogue and some other archaic patterns to solving contemporary problems like insecurity, notwithstanding.
According to him, investors are moving to neighbouring states to establish, due to the insecurity and how taxation is being managed in the state by the government.
While adding that the transport sector in the state had not fared well since the creation of the state in 1991, Okolie said in the Soludo dispensation, that transporters in the state are suffering.
“What we are agitating is that the present government in the state should allow our unions to work, but in accordance with their policies and oversee the functions of the unions and how they operate in order to push the revenue base of the state further,” he concluded.
