Abia State Governor Alex Otti has urged Ndigbo to respond to the growing presence of Chinese traders in Nigeria’s retail sector by embracing manufacturing, technology and digital commerce rather than trying to preserve traditional trading methods.
Otti said the changing business environment should encourage Igbo entrepreneurs to move into areas with greater opportunities instead of viewing competition from Chinese traders only as a threat.
The governor spoke at the Igbo Day Lecture and Dinner organised by Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide at the Michael Okpara Auditorium in Umuahia.
Addressing concerns about Chinese nationals increasingly competing with Nigerian traders in Lagos, Otti said the answer was to adapt to the changing global economy.
“We are leaving that place of trading. In Abia, we have markets; the markets are important. But we are moving from the market to manufacturing,” he said.
Otti said his administration was working to position Abia as a manufacturing and technology-driven economy, while encouraging young people to acquire digital skills.
He explained that the state was gradually moving away from dependence on physical shops towards online and technology-based business models.
“We are driving digital delivery. We are leaving that physical store for digital delivery. So, when somebody talked about Alibaba, that’s exactly where we are headed,” the governor said.
Otti said the growing competition from Chinese traders should instead serve as a reminder that the way people conduct business is changing globally.
“So, why are the Chinese coming to compete with us? We are moving away from there. And it’s going to start in Abia,” he said.
According to the governor, Abia would continue to combine manufacturing and commerce, but the focus would increasingly shift towards digital trading.
“But we are moving from conventional trading to digital trading. That’s where the world is going. You either embrace it or you risk being left behind,” he warned.
Otti also highlighted his administration’s TechRise initiative, which is aimed at equipping young people in Abia with digital skills.
“When I spend money here training my young people in digital technology under the TechRise initiative, I know what I am doing. Some of them are already working for Google and Amazon from Aba,” he said.
He maintained that technology would allow Igbo businesses to compete beyond physical markets and reach customers in different parts of the world.
Meanwhile, President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta-Mbata, said the growing presence of Chinese traders in Lagos should prompt Ndigbo to become more deliberate about protecting and expanding their economic interests.
Azuta-Mbata noted that trading has historically been a major part of Igbo enterprise but argued that individual business success should be translated into broader collective development.
He said the Igbo Charter for Strategic Engagement for National Development, prepared by more than 67 Igbo technocrats and business leaders, was designed to provide a framework for engaging the Nigerian state and the wider global community.
The Ohanaeze leader also called for stronger efforts to preserve Igbo culture and language, including a proposal for Igbo to be made compulsory in primary and secondary schools across the South-East.
He further appealed to the Federal Government to pursue a political solution to the continued detention of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Chairman of the occasion, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, urged Ndigbo to move beyond complaints and take practical steps towards shaping their collective future.
“We must look forward to building a brighter future, moving beyond complaining about those who won’t give us our due, to taking our destiny in our own hands,” he said.
Otti, who pledged his administration’s support for Ohanaeze, said the theme of the celebration, “Njikọ Ka,” meaning “Unity is Supreme,” highlighted the importance of collective action.
The governor said his administration had already laid what he described as a foundation for Abia’s transformation.
“We have retrieved and recovered our state. And the only way to go is up. Once you have laid the foundation, the only way to go is up,” he said.
Prof. Kingsley Moghalu, Chairman of the Igbo Charter Committee for Strategic Engagement for National Development, delivered the keynote lecture at the event, which was attended by political leaders, traditional rulers, clergy, business leaders and other members of the Igbo community.
