Willie Obiano, the Anambra State governor, has written to Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to bestow honours on two of the state’s indigenes.
Obiano said the chairmen of Air Peace, Barr Allen Onyema and Innoson Vehicle Motors, Chief Innocent Chukwuma are worthy of honours for their contributions to national development.
C.Don Adinuba, the Anambra State commissioner for information and public enlightenment, who disclosed the content of the letter to journalists said Obiano described the contribution of the two indigenes of the state to national development as ‘path changing.
Part of Obiano’s letter to Buhari read, “These two gentlemen are deserving of everything in gold. They have changed the narrative of Nigeria’s development for the better.
“The whole nation remembers with nostalgia how Chief Onyema sent his wide-bodied aircraft to South Africa two years ago to bring back free of charge hundreds of Nigerians stranded in the country when South Africans launched xenophobic attacks on our fellow countrymen.
“He invested a fortune in it and ensured that Air Peace maintained the highest standards in the world in terms of the state of the art equipment, safety, staff training, as well as ground and in-flight services,” he said.
Speaking about Chukwuma, Chairman of Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing, IVM, Governor Obiano described him as a revolutionary in the country’s quest for industrial development.
“Not even the colossal government failure to sustain motor assembly plants in Nigeria over the decades could deter this entrepreneur, who went into business with modest means as motorcycle seller, from dreaming big and building the nation’s first motor manufacturing firm.
“Only a tough-minded, visionary, and patriotic Nigerian could venture into industrialization on a large scale as Chief Chukwuma has done, considering the poor state of infrastructure in the country.
“The constant and remarkable improvements in Innoson vehicles have added to their competitiveness; they compete on both quality and price.
“These two Anambra sons are earning foreign exchange for the country making the whole nation proud. They are eminently deserving of the nations highest honours for their selfless and patriotic services which will ginger them to do more and encourage other citizens to follow in their noble footsteps,” Obiano noted.
Source: Daily Post
