Tourism Readiness, Investment Promotion, Economic Growth and Development in South East Nigeria: an Expose and Proposal
Tourism Readiness, Investment Promotion, Economic Growth and Development in South East Nigeria: An Expose and Proposal By Chukwuemeka U. Okoye Department of Agricultural Economic University of Nigeria, Nsukka Introduction Up until 1966, the economy of then Eastern Nigeria was one of the fastest growing in the world, finding peers among Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil, etc. By then, Eastern Nigeria dominated both commerce and the Federal bureaucracy in Nigeria. Today, South East Nigeria is a much smaller enclave, encompassing a geographical space made up of five states (Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi) and exclusively inhabited by the Igbo, relative to the former Eastern Nigeria, which included the Efik, Ibibio, and Ijaw of Cross River, Rivers, and Bayelsa states. Economic growth in the South East has contracted to the extent that it is now attributed with the least aggregate Gross State Product in Nigeria (of N754.40bn). Again, ranking of Nigerian states by ease of doing business has seen the South East States at the bottom of the ladder. The concerns about lack of investments, which largely inform the regular expression of concern by individuals, group and institutions in the zone (Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo, South East Economic Summit Group, and South East Nigeria Economic Commission) include the poor state of employment, low industrial development, insecurity, dearth of critical infrastructure among others. Reasons for this are economic, social, political and otherwise, but it does appear, as indeed many may know, that we should look more closely at what made Eastern Nigeria, particularly the Igbo Nation of the present South East Zone so vibrant before 1966, and what happened to it during and after the Civil War of 1966-1970.
[Show full text]