Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has urged Ndigbo to move beyond conventional trading and harness manufacturing, technology and digital commerce to drive the next phase of Igbo enterprise.
Governor Otti stated this on Monday, at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia, during the Igbo Lecture and Dinner organised as part of activities to mark the 2026 World Igbo Day celebration.
The Governor said the Igbo people could no longer afford to rely predominantly on conventional trading when technology was rapidly changing the way businesses operate and consumers access goods and services.
He said that Abia, which has historically been associated with commerce and trading, was deliberately creating an economic environment in which entrepreneurs could move up the value chain into manufacturing and technology.
Governor Otti explained that the transition was already being supported by his administration through investments in manufacturing and digital skills.
“So this government is supporting manufacturing. We are delivering digital delivery. So we are leaving that physical store to digital delivery”, Governor Otti said.
The Governor noted that the emerging digital economy would allow Igbo businesses to reach customers and markets beyond their immediate physical locations, stressing that technology had fundamentally altered the global business landscape.
“Abia is both manufacturing and then trading. But we are moving from conventional trading to digital trading. That’s where the world is going”, the Governor stated.
He said the development was particularly important in responding to increasing competition in Nigeria’s retail sector, arguing that the answer was not to remain locked in a traditional model of commerce.
“So why the Chinese are coming to compete with us, we are moving away from there. And it’s going to start in Abia,” Otti said.
The Governor also highlighted his administration’s investment in digital skills development through programmes such as TechRise.
He said that young Abians were already taking advantage of the opportunities created by the technology-driven economy.
“When I spend money here training my young people in digital technology, in TechRise, in Trivia, I know what I’m doing.
“Some of them are already working for Google and Amazon from Aba”, he said.
Governor Otti therefore urged Ndigbo to take technology seriously, noting that digital skills could provide opportunities for people irrespective of their level of formal education.
In his keynote address delivered virtually, the Chairman of the Igbo Charter Committee for Strategic Engagement for National Development, Prof Kingsley Moghalu, also identified the creation of a digital marketplace as one of the priorities contained in the proposed Igbo Charter.
Prof Moghalu said the charter should provide a non-partisan roadmap for development, driven by merit, accountability and measurable targets.
He identified other priorities to include promotion of the Igbo language, stronger diaspora engagement, improved security and investment, as well as a shift from dependence on remittances towards productive investments.
Prof Moghalu further called for true federalism, equitable citizenship and devolution of power, urging Ndigbo to move from discussions to implementation.
The President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Senator John Azuta Mbata, said the Igbo Charter of Strategic Engagement for National Development was designed to harness the collective strength of Ndigbo through a unified development strategy.
Sen.Mbata said more than 67 Igbo technocrats, business leaders and other professionals contributed to the preparation of the charter.
He said the document also proposed measures for protecting Igbo culture and language, including making Igbo compulsory in primary and secondary schools across Igboland.
Chairman of the occasion, Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, in his address earlier, urged Ndigbo to take greater responsibility for the development of AlaIgbo.
“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.
