Omiete Blessing
Investors at an event in Port Harcourt, said peace must be pursued with all seriousness if the oil rich Rivers State wished to take back their place of pride as investment destination in Nigeria.
The Chief Executive Officer of Housing and Construction Mayor Limited, My-ACE China, and founder of a peace pageantry, Christian Okoro, said until investors and entrepreneurs find the formula for peace, they may not discover the secret of investment success in the region.
These and other entrepreneurs spoke at the revived Rivers Queen of Peace pageant which produced the next Rivers Queen of Peace, Tobechi Elendu.
The organisers who commended China, popularly known as Mayor of Housing for backing the peace pageantry, said Rivers State must be lucky at last to have a Governor of Peace, Mayor of Peace, and Queen of Peace.
Flagging off the contest, China, said many visitors have been trapped to remain behind and invest in the state, but urged the inhabitants to return to the days of old when Port Harcourt was the centre of entertainment and tourism.
He said “This is the power of prosperity that Port Harcourt or Rivers State commands. I must however warn business people in Rivers State that the global walls are coming down due to social media. For this reason, perception is now greater than reality. Most persons now work with what they hear about you, or what they perceive. So, put your right foot forward first. If you don’t smile, nobody will come to embrace you.”
He reminded that Dubai thrives on force of attraction to visitors and profits from every single person that visits there. “So, if you don’t smile, you lose out. Rivers State can be like Dubai.”
On why business people like him keep shouting for peace, he said it was to create an environment needed to create wealth and profit.
“So, we are going to work closely with these people and our peace-loving government to ensure that our best foot as a state is put forward.”
In remarks, Okoro, the co-founder of the Rivers Beauty Queen of Peace pageantry, explained that the pageantry was revived after 2019 due to the new atmosphere in the state.
He said peace is the only thing that attracts investors, not availability of mineral resources or good government policies. “These ones ride on peace to attract investors. For this reason, we preach peace. Rivers State is heaven of peace. So, we have assembled these bevies of beauty as peace advocates.
The event began with drama-let that depicted the understanding that Rivers is safe for business and investment, but that there should be no need to fight because there is rather enough to go round.