THERE is this saying that: Righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach. When a righteous man is on the throne, the people rejoice. It is based on these premises, that I welcome the new development in Enugu State and the intending partnership between the state and Chinese investors. At least something good, something positive and something rewarding to the people are in the offing.

Democracy is all about the people. It involves partnering with the people in order to make the society better than we met it. It liberates and empowers the masses politically, socially, economically and otherwise. It comes with confidence and develops one's abilities to explore, exploit and expand. Who says our democracy is not yielding fruits?

Sometime in the first tenure of the administration of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, the then secretary to the state government, Mr. Onyemuche Nnamani, had led a powerful state delegation, to The Peoples Republic of China, with the sole aim of attracting investors to partner with the state to develop its huge deposits of lime stone, apart from coal, which the state had been known for. The state had earlier floated the idea of establishing a cement factory, which a site has been identified. And with this at back of their minds, the trip was embarked upon. Little did this delegation know that their visit would eventually materialize into a more concrete development to the state until recently?

Recently a Chinese trade mission from the province of Henan, in The Peoples Republic of China, was in Enugu State to explore the possibilities and opportunities of investments, and the state government were on ground to welcome them and in his welcome address in a state banquet, the governor through his deputy had this to say: "we have great potentials to partner with you to ensure mutual benefit. This is because you are coming here to invest and make profit which will, in turn, improve the welfare of our people."

Earlier on, the leader of the Chinese trade mission had acknowledged the great potentials inherent in our great country, Nigeria, in the areas of
agriculture, aviation, oil and gas, telecommunications, textile, building materials, coal and cement, and others. And accordingly, Mr. Jonathan Pang, the leader of the trade mission and the President of Link Global logistics in China, said: "We hope that through our hard work, we can make Enugu State a star in Nigeria." Further more, he promised that; "we can link Enugu city and make it an international transit centre for cargo and passenger aircraft in Africa."

But the most interesting aspects of their mission was found in the statement made by Mr. Elvis Emecheta, the president Nigerian Chinese Chamber of Commerce and the representative of Henan Province, China in Nigeria, who said "I must emphasize that this delegation is neither here to buy nor sell. They want to bring investments in the form of capital to build industries and processing units and export to Europe to sell in markets where they already have monopoly. They are ready to commit their money into Nigeria."

Therefore, the import of this development is far-reaching to our country - Enugu State in particular, the entire east and Nigeria at large.
Also, this is a strong case for the proponents of decentralization of Nigerian state, because this has demonstrated that, states on their own could grow based on their own capabilities and capacities. Component states that made up Nigerian state should be encouraged and allowed to take initiatives that alleviate the sufferings of the majority of Nigerians. After all, fingers are not equal. Some must be ahead of others.

With this also, Nigerians could see that a state can be financially viable. By the time all these goodies as promised by the Chinese delegates begin to be transformed into realities; Enugu State will be generating huge revenues from their operations internally. The era of cap in hand, begging for allocation from the federal revenue board should be over. This actually, is a wake up call to all the Governors and the intending ones, now that the campaign for 2007 election is at the corner, that they must think and be creative on the best ways out of the wood for the impoverished masses of this blessed country.

Through doggedness and enterprises our states could be financially sound and independent. For Akanu Ibiam International Airport, a saviour has come. I, for one I knew that the very day that our President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, during his state visit to the state, threw out a challenge before Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, that as soon as you can guarantee an airline that will ply from the airport five times weekly on international operations, that the deed has been done.

Nnamani, I know, loves the state with a passion, and would likely go extra miles to achieve something to imprint his footsteps in the sand of history. Currently, there is no direct air link between Nigeria and the Asian countries and this is one before us. Sure this is a threat to the big players such as Americas, Europe. In reality, this could be the true and genuine efforts to open up Nigerian economy for lively competition, as both Americas, Europe will be struggling to be relevant in the economy of the country.

I forsee another viable airport in the country aside from Muritala Mohammed International airport in Lagos. Nigerians, and mostly of Igbo origin, are scattered all over the world and would likely fly direct to the heart of Igbo nation, Enugu. Apart from the preceding, there are other multiplier effects coming from the Chinese trade mission as they have equally promised to commit one billion dollars in direct investment to the development of industries and infrastructures in the country.

What of the employments that these operations will create? One needs to be in any of the human resources departments of a good company to appreciate this social malady. There is no gain saying that most Nigerians are under paid. Most also, could not get a permanent job. Today we hear of contract employments in big companies and banks, all because their is abundant supply of manpower. This is slavery of sort. Others have resorted to segregating and differentiating between first class degrees, second class upper and second-class lower. All points to the fact that supply out weighed demands. But with these proposed activities, surely, people will be gainfully employed.

Another vital sector that the Chinese team promised to invest on is agriculture. Agriculture should be the live wire of any nation except, perhaps, in Nigeria, where people in government pay less attention to the plight of the people they govern. Therefore, going by the words of Mr. Pang, who said, "Enugu State is a potential investors' heaven because of its large available land and the forest areas. Enugu State is rich in land that will make it possible for the growing of agricultural products." We have good and fertile ground no doubt. Ugbawka in Nkanu East local government is known for rice farming, as well as Akpugo in Nkanu West. They all lack the finance and infrastructure.

The state should also, seize these opportunities to examine the true situations of Oghe cashew plantation of Ezeagu local government area, Adani Rice farms, Nsukka, the comatose Anambra Vegetable Oil Products (AVOP), Nachi, Udi, and indeed, every other agricultural firms owned by the state government, with the intention of privatizing or handing them over to these investors in order to revive and profitably operate them.

With the magnitude of expected investment accruing from this partnership, the state is set to be totally transformed and industrialized and could possibly, have a spilling effect on the state of the roads, railways, rural electrification and others, in the benefiting areas. This has clearly shown that with the right policy in place, the right investment will flow in into the country. At this time of our development, we require selfless leaders that will continue to improve on the legacies being
bequeathed on the state and the people will be better for it.