Ikpeazu made this known when his counterpart from Kano, Dr Ibrahim Ganduje, paid visited him at the Government House, Umuahia, after the latter had been conferred with an honorary traditional chieftaincy title by the Chairman of Abia State/ South East traditional Rulers Council, Eze Dr Eberechi Dick.
The conferment, which took place at Dick’s Ewuga Palace in Obingwa LGA, was in appreciation of Ganduje for protecting south easterners resident in Kano State. Governor Ikpeazu, who said Abia would leverage cotton and the ternary in Kano to improve the leather, shoes, and bags industry, pointed out that the two states needed one another to survive.
“Abia will explore ways of making bulk purchase of leather from Kano, to drive the shoe factories in Aba. Our Commissioner for Trade and Investments will soon visit Kano State with Aba leather manufacturers in that regard.”
He further stressed the need for every ethnic nationality in the country to respect each other’s difference, and learn how to leverage the things they share in common for the sake of posterity.
“For me, every part of Nigeria needs each other and this is the kind of synergy we need,” adding that he has opened talks with the Bank of Industry (BoI), to see how best to source the materials.
Ganduje on his part said the honour done him would further consolidate national integration that Nigeria yearns for, and urged Nigerians to understand their differences and accept each other as the only way to build a united nation.
Former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and now Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi Lamido, who was in Ganduje’s entourage, described Kano as a cosmopolitan society that welcomes and accommodates the residents and visitors.He said any country that wants to make progress must be accommodating, and expressed delight that governors Ikpeazu (PDP), and Ganduje (APC), are working in such a manner that promotes national unity and development.
