The Abia State Government has stated its desire to partner with Israel in developing its human capital, agriculture, digital economy as well as micro, small and medium enterprises.
Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, while speaking on Tuesday when the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Michael Freeman, paid him a visit at the Government House, Umuahia said that the determination and resilience of the citizens even in the face of the current economic situation and failures of past administrations has served as an encouragement for government to keep evolving policies and programmes that would improve their welfare and make their businesses thrive.
The Governor said that plans were underway to build an Abia Innovation Center to further strengthenthe government’s resolve to drive innovation and digitalisation.
In his speech, Ambassador Freeman commended the leadership quality of Governor Otti, saying that his visit to Abia State is a tribute to the good work that the Abia Governor is doing in the State, particularly in the area of security.
“As Israelis, we’re known for many things. One of the things we’re known for is not being so easy on security situation. So, when I received the invitation and had the conversation to come to Abia State, I went back to my Embassy, to my security team and said, I’ve been invited by the government to come to Abia State. I think, again, there’s another. I’ve been here now in Nigeria for for two years, and other than being in the FCT (Abuja) and other than being in Lagos, this is my first visit outside of those two places, which again I think is a tribute to you, it’s a tribute to your work, it’s a tribute to everything that is happening here (in Abia),” Ambassador Freeman told Governor Otti.
The Isreali Ambassador, who described his visit to Abia as significant, coming on a day that the Jewish nation was celebrating its 76th Independence Anniversary, said that there is so much that Abia, indeed Nigeria, and Israel have in common, particularly their entrepreneurial spirit.
He said: “We both have a very young population. We both have a population that is innovative, that is determined to do better than their peers, to continually strive. Nobody really taking no for an answer, okay. For us, and I know it’s the same for Nigerians, if the door is closed, then you’re coming through the window and if the window is closed, you’re coming in through the ceiling into the room, and that is very much, an Israeli trait.”
“We are blessed to have leading agriculture experts in the world and specifically in areas of cassava, rice and cocoa production.It takes 5,000 litres of water to grow one kilogramme of rice. It is a huge amount of water, but Israel has discovered a technology that allows you to grow one kilogramme of rice with 1,500 litres of water, and using the drip technology you can grow it anywhere,” he said.
The Isreali Ambassador said that the achievement of having full time electricity in Aba was very commendable and added that such potential would allow both governments to work on digital economy, technology, science and agriculture.
