The Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim has again declared that Rivers State is safe for business.
Nsirim made the declaration when the newly elected executive body of the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHCCIMA), paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Port Harcourt, last Monday.
The commissioner charged PHCCIMA to articulate strategies that would project the state to the outside world as a place that is safe for business.
“We want PHCCIMA to have a voice. The voice of the chamber needs to be louder because we must articulate strategies that will begin to project Rivers State to the outside world.
“I don’t think there is any state that has integrated and comprehensive security architecture like what Governor Nyesom Wike has put in place in Rivers State. We have the conventional police force, the Operation Sting, the C4i and the Neighbourhood Watch”.
Nsirim said Wike has done his part by providing the right leadership, building the right infrastructure and making the state safe for businesses to thrive, adding that what is needed is for the voice of PHCCIMA to be heard louder about the business opportunities that abound in the state.
“Governor Wike has done his part. He has also properly streamlined the tax regime to ensure that businesses do not suffer multiple taxation. We need to begin to develop the synergy that will begin to build on what he has done for Rivers State.
“We cannot quantify in monetary terms how much this administration has impacted in businesses. That is why Governor Wike was quick to set up the Ease of Doing Business Council strategically designed to build a framework for the expansion of businesses.
“So, we need to make our voice to come out strong. The world must hear it loud and clear that Rivers State is open for business.
“QatarAirlines will be flying Port Harcourt from March 3, while Turkish Airlines have been flying Port Harcourt. Airlines like that won’t come to a state that is not safe. Those are the kind of things the chamber needs to leverage on to tell the world that Rivers State is safe”, he said.
The commissioner noted that in the midst of perceived insecurity in the Niger Delta, oil companies carry out their exploration and exploitation activities unhindered, adding that the design by detractors to demarket the state is to make capital flight possible for themselves while the goose that lays the golden eggs suffered.
“We must work together to make people understand that we have come to understand the political economy of the kind of thing they do to us as a people,” he said.
Nsirim congratulated the president and members of the new executive of PHCCIMA, and expressed confidence in the ability of the new leadership to change the narrative.
He recalled the collaboration the ministry got from PHCCIMA in its drive of the #OurStateOurResponsibility advocacy campaign, and assured them of his ministry’s readiness to partner with the new leadership to enable it achieve set goals.
In his remarks, the President of PHCCIMA, Sir Mike Elechi commended the commissioner for effectively articulating and projecting the developmental strides of Wike in the state.
He said the organisation under the new leadership needed to partner with the state government through the Ministry of Information and Communications to add value to the state.
He said the organisation has plans to reposition Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and exploitation of economic potentials in the local government areas to drive alternative resources to oil in the state.
Elechi stressed the need for policies that would stimulate the growth of the non-oil sector of the state economy.
He said the chamber was planning a meeting with local government chairmen in the state with the view to taking census of all investible raw materials in the local government areas and showcasing them to the world through its website.
Elechi also stressed the need for the ministry to set up its desk in the chamber with the view to assisting in the promotion of its activities to the world.
Rivers Is Safe For Business, Nsirim …Charges PHCCIMA To Lead Advocacy
