Josef Onoh, the Southeast spokesman of the Bola Tinubu presidential campaign council, has claimed that the zone with it’s huge coal deposits will be among the highest beneficiaries of Tinubu’s administration if elected president.
Onoh listed the 14 Nigeria’s coal-producing states that will benefit from Tinubu’s proposed revitalization of coal mining to include Enugu, Benue, Kogi, Bauchi, Delta, Abia, Plateau, Edo, Kwara, Abia, Ondo, Anambra, Adamawa and Imo states which he said will form core beneficiaries of the Tinubu administration.
According to him, the benefits to the states would drive from the proposed revitalization of the coal industry by the Asiwaju administration as clearly listed in his manifesto which has targeted the mining industry as a core growth sub-sector of the Nigeria economy, noting that coal mining in the 14 states would add tremendously to the country’s GDP.
In an interview in Enugu, on Sunday, Onoh stated that the global sales for coal exports from world countries totaled US$122.9 billion in 2021 with Nigeria making no impute in the gross production despite its over 2.8 billion metric tons of coal reserve deposit under Nigeria’s beneath the earth.
He noted that coal was the foundation of the Nigeria economy before the discovery of oil, stating that with Tinubu’s business initiatives as practiced in Lagos state during his administration as Governor, the coal-producing states will witness tremendous economic developments with corresponding infrastructure development, job and wealth creations which will place Nigeria on the pedestal to compete with 15 major countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of coal during 2021.
“This is the real reason, every right thinking person in the south east, where coal and other mineral deposits are dominant, and other states with great mining potentials should vote for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. The lime stones in Ebonyi and Kogi states are also part of the mining sector which Tinubu has promised to reactivate to their fullest potential,” he said.
“It is the reactivation of the coal industry that will bring about the full utilization of some amenities such as the Akanu Ibiam International Airport that has remained under utilized despite its recent upgrade. The Enugu economy is still poor, night life in the coal city is still poor whereas the state has all it takes to compete with Lagos state, but all that will only be realized if the south east decide to do away with politics of sentiment, play national politics and vote for Asiwaju in the February 2023 presidential election.
“There is presently no major investment in the south east and this is an opportunity for the region to grow again, Enugu state in particular will be among the major beneficiaries of the Tinubu victory which is the reason I advise the state to vote for Asiwaju. If exportation of coal resumes in Enugu and other states, it will boast the states’ diversity, attract direct foreign investments and help states like Enugu state grow beyond its present mere civil service state.”