POSITION PAPER: Getting the Basics Right: Building an Imo State Where Business Thrives -

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POSITION PAPER: Getting the Basics Right: Building an Imo State Where Business Thrives

By: Dr. Ejike Chukwu

Governorship Aspirant, Imo State

My Analysis of the Situation

I have walked through our markets in Owerri, Orlu, and Okigwe. I have sat with welders in Ihiagwa, cassava processors in Ehime Mbano, and young developers working out of co-working spaces in New Owerri. They all tell me the same story.

They want to build. But the State is making it too hard.

When power cuts out 10 times a day, a small business owner is not planning expansion. She is planning how to buy diesel.

When a truck spends 3 hours on a 1-hour road, the cost doesn’t just hurt the driver. It raises the price of food on your table. When a young person with a good idea spends months chasing permits and paying different levies to different agencies, many give up and leave.

This is not a failure of Imo people. It is a failure of systems.

We have brilliant civil servants, committed traditional rulers, and resilient business owners. But our institutions are too weak to convert that goodwill into results. Until we fix the machinery, no single person at Douglas House can deliver lasting change alone.

My Solutions for Imo State:

If given the mandate, my administration will focus on 7 practical pillars:

1. Power That Works:

– Partner with private investors to establish 3 state-supported Independent Power Projects for Owerri, Orlu, and Okigwe industrial clusters.

– Incentivize solar and gas for SMEs through a “Power for Business” fund with single-digit loans.

– Create an Imo State Electricity Market policy to allow willing buyers and willing sellers with transparent tariffs.

2. Roads, Transport and Logistics:

– Emergency rehabilitation of critical economic corridors within the first 18 months.

– Digitize haulage permits and set up a single logistics desk to end multiple road taxes.

– Push for an Inland Container Depot in Imo to cut the cost of imports for our manufacturers.

3. Cut the Cost and Confusion of Doing Business:

– One State, One Tax: Harmonize all business levies into a single digital payment. No agency can collect outside the portal.

30-Day Business Approval: A “one-stop” Investment and Enterprise Office that issues permits or gives a written reason for denial.

Publish all fees online. Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

4. Security for People and Profit:

– Fund and equip Imo Community Security Trust with tech, training, and oversight, working with police and vigilantes.

– Install solar streetlights and CCTV on major markets and industrial areas.

– Fast-track special courts for commercial disputes and vandalism.

5. Strong Institutions, Not Strong Men:

Pass an Imo State Public Service Reform Law: merit-based hiring, performance contracts for commissioners, and Perm secs.

– Quarterly public scorecards. Every ministry will publish 3 measurable targets and report progress.

– Protect whistleblowers and digitize procurement so contracts go to competence, not connections.

6. Support for Imo People Who Build:

“Made in Imo” Fund: Grants and matching funds for agro-processing, manufacturing, and tech.

– Technical schools aligned with industry needs in power, road construction, and logistics.

– Market infrastructure: cold rooms, drainage, and decent toilets in our major markets.

7. Policy Consistency:

– 4-Year Economic Compact: No major tax or regulatory change without 6 months’ notice and stakeholder input.

– An independent Imo Economic Advisory Council of business owners, labour, and academics to review policies before they are rolled out.

Closing:

Imo State is not poor in ideas or in people. We are rich in talent, enterprise, and hope. What we lack is a government that makes success possible.

I am running because I am tired of seeing our people’s energy wasted on survival. I want to build a state where a welder can weld, a farmer can farm, and a founder can build — without begging for light, without fear on the road, and without drowning in paperwork.

That is the Imo I see. And with your support, that is the Imo we will build together.

— Dr. Ejike Chukwu