Abia State Governor Alex Otti was recently honored with a ‘Tourism World Outstanding mega Socio-economic Development Initiative Award’ by Tourism World International during the sixth Tourism International commercial and agro-tourism conference and awards ceremony recently held in Umuahia, the Abia state capital.

The organisers said the sixth award ceremony held in Umuahia was aimed at supporting socio-economic development in the state and South East by opening it up for tourism activities. Mr. Solomon Uwakwe, the chief executive officer and founder of Tourism World International, speaking further on the seminar and award said: “We have been concentrating on all the tourism programmes in Abuja and Lagos only. Many years ago, we started in Abuja, we did the first one at Transcope Hilton, and from Transcope Hilton we went to NICON Luxury, from NICON Luxury to Rockview Royale, and then we came to Lagos. In Lagos, we have held the event at Four Point by Sheraton, and then at Golden Tulip for some years. We then thought, why not look at other regions aside from Lagos? Most importantly, in the South East, we now have a socio-economically friendly administration. It is no longer news that the administration in Abia State is interested in the economic development of the state. We now said okay, it can’t be only Abuja and the South West; let us also look at the South East.  Let us do it in Abia State, in doing so, we are trying to support the socio-economic agenda of the state. Apart from supporting that agenda, it is also a way of decentralizing tourism and the socio-economic growth of the state. We believe that will encourage the growth of Agro-tourism and socioeconomic development in the South East.”

Uwakwe spoke on the award to the Abia State governor, saying it was also a result of his positive development strides in the state: “We did a kind of random analysis and survey of the different sectors and what people have contributed. That of the Abia State governor is for outstanding performance in the socio-economic development of the state. If you come to Abia State, you will see roads being reconstructed, infrastructures being built, industrial parks, road constructions, reconstructions, and rehabilitation projects. We had no reason not to appreciate him to do more. doing more. We intend to go back to Abia for this year’s edition.’

Other recipients of the awards include: “Mrs. Adaeze Iroegbu, Mr. Emenike Jackson Iroegbu, Mrs. Torty Chinenye Kalu-Ulu, Mr. Emmanuel Ufomba, and Ambassador Osita Offor (De Ultimate Commander).