The executive governor of imo state, Hope Uzodimma, in a viral video, was seen narrating his negotiations with the various oil companies in Imo State on the issue of bringing their headquarters to Imo State to support the local economy.
Uzodimma, in the video, lamented the current reality of oil companies operating and tapping from imo state’s natural resources, citing their headquarters in lagos, paying tax there and leaving only their operational base in Imo state.
” We have seven oil-producing companies and none has an office in Imo state, ” Uzodimma pointed out.
He narrated that even oil companies partly owned by the Imo state government are also in this category of Lagos-based companies. He stressed that this must stop and called a meeting with the management of all the oil companies in Imo state.
In the meeting, Uzodimma made a strong case for a proposed contribution to Imo State’s local economy. He stated that the oil companies must cite their headquarters in Imo state going forward, as that is the proper thing to do.
Responding to his request, the oil companies rolled out a host of reasons for choosing Lagos over Imo State for the location of headquarters. They pointed out security and the lack of a five-star hotel in Owerri for their expats and top executives.
Uzodimma responded that the imo state government would provide security. He added that there are currently three 5-star hotels in Imo state. According to him, Marriott is managing Protea Hotels, Hilton International Hotels is also present in Imo state, and the Concorde hotels, a 5-star hotel, is 75% completed.
Uzodimma further said in the meeting that the proposed partnership between Imo state and the oil companies must be a mutually beneficial one where all parties succeed. The partnership must favour the Imo state government, the people of Imo state, and the Oil companies as well.
He proposed that the oil companies not only extract natural resources from the state. That they process it in imo state, too, creating jobs for the people of imo state as well.
Uzodimma’s video narrating the exchange went viral and got shared multiple times. Uzodimma was hailed for his vision and strategy by South-Eastern netizens who wished more of such initiatives and vision-led governance would be replicated in other South-Eastern states.
