By Henry Uche
Abia State government has expressed its commitment to provide an environment conducive for investment in the state.
The Special Adviser to the state governor, Alex Otti on Trade and Investment, Mr Nwaka Inem who gave the assurance on Tuesday said the state government was working round the clock to open up the state and make Abia one of the best states in terms of the ease of doing business.
Addressing the Joint Stakeholders of Aba medicine Dealers association in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, Inem noted for instance, that the state government was ready to fully support efforts by developers of Coordinated Wholesale Centre (CWC) in the state, and to ensure the early commencement and completion of the facility.
The CWC is a concept by the Federal Government designed to ensure proper drug distribution and sale of drugs in Nigeria, and mitigation of substandard and falsified medicines usually associated with open drug markets.
In his remarks, chairman of Joint Stakeholders of Aba medicine dealers association, Mr Elvis Anoruo said that his team was committed to ensuring that the interest of members of the association were protected as the ongoing stakeholders meetings progresses.
He said the leadership of different markets in Aba was on a fact-finding mission to establish that the government has approved the development of CWC in the state.
He expressed hope that agreements could be reached in no distant time and appreciated the quality of understanding prevalent at every stage of the stakeholders meetings.
There is no gain saying the fact that this project comes with immense gains both for the traders and for the general public. The CWC will go a long way to provide reliable and affordable yet quality drugs to Abia people that will be very efficient and fitting for their needs. It is also bound to provide a whole lot of economic benefits including making available employment opportunities to skilled and unskilled people from all over the country, as well as helping to develop a framework whereby quality control is a key factor due to the presence of industry regulators.
CWC has come to replace open drug markets across Nigeria and that is why the Federal Government mandated Drug Dealers in Aba, Kano, Onitsha and Lagos to move to CWCs or risk being shut down. Kano State is the first among the four to start off.
Anambra State government has said the Drug Dealers in the popular head bridge, Onitsha will move to a CWC facility at Oba next year while Lagos State government is currently at advanced stages of completion of its CWC.
The CWC facility is designed to be a modern environment for wholesale dealership in drugs and allied products. The facility will have internationally recommended equipment for storage of drugs, expansive shops for sale of drugs, standard warehouses, NAFDAC and PCN offices, a police post, standard parking space, loading and off-loading bay, 24/7 electricity supply among numerous.
