The new Imo state Commissioner for Tourism, Jerry Egemba on Wednesday, November 23 assumed duty at the ministry in Owerri, the state capital.
Speaking shortly after assumption of duty, Egemba promised to create enabling environment for the ministry to operate.
Egemba, a lawyer assured that he would synergize with management and staff to deliver on the mandate of the ministry.
He said, “We shall work together to ensure the delivery of our objectives and purpose.
“I will ensure that your best is properly harnessed to make Imo great; we are in a government of shared prosperity and we all shall be happy”.
He also promised to improve the internally generated revenue of the ministry, make himself accessible to staff, and inject technical technical staff into Imo State Tourism Board to make the parastatal effectual.
The commissioner charged the management and staff of the ministry to be mindful of the rules of public service and demanded partnership and cooperation, probity, accountability, honesty, prudence, passionate commitment to duty, and punctuality from them.
He thanked the state governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma for appointing him a member of his cabinet.
He described Governor Uzodimma as a man of vision who is committed to the well-being of Imo people and to the development of the state.
He said, “it has pleased God to use His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma to appoint me a Commissioner and I owe a debt of gratitude to him.
“Since I started working with Governor Uzodimma, I have known he is not just a gift but a perfect gift to Imo State.
“He is a man of vision, a man of purpose committed to the total well-being of Imo people; a man committed to the development of the very ideals for which Imo is known”.
Egemba commended the immediate past Commissioner, Mazi Uche Ohia who moves to the Ministry of Culture and Creative Arts, for his contributions to the development and administration of tourism and hospitality in the state.
Earlier, Imo State Commissioner for Culture and Creative Arts, who was hitherto in charge of Tourism, Culture and Creative Arts, Mazi Uche Ohia, said that as Commissioner in charge of Tourism, he produced some of the organic documents for the ministry to operate.
He said, “the handover includes the inventory of government properties in the Ministry; a compilation of all the hotels in Imo State arranged in alphabetical order; a compilation of all the hotels in Imo State by location; and we were working on a compilation of all tourism and hospitality establishments including bars, lounges, hostels, motels, eateries, nightclubs, etc, before I was reassigned to the Ministry of Culture and Creative Arts.
“We have designed operational licenses for all tourism establishments in the state. As I speak, a few of them have operational licenses”
Ohia assured the new Commissioner for Tourism of a motivated and cooperative work force with knowledge and experience, and wished him success.
