I’ll take Imo to
higher level – Aspirant
By ENYERIBE EJIOGU
Friday,
November 24, 2006
Imo State governorship aspirant, Barrister (Chief) Steve
Ugochukwu Ahaneku, says that the country would have no future
if the elite fail to take proactive steps to transform the
ever growing population of unemployed graduates into knowledgeable
workers.
In what he describes as his “contract with Imo State”,
Ahaneku says that he would pursue this aspiration with vigour
if he is elected as the next governor of Imo State.
Followers of the United States recent electoral history would
easily recall that Mr. Newt Gingrich, a member of the country
House of Representatives led the Republicans wrestled control
of the Congress from the Democratic Party during the second
tenure of former President Bill Clinton. Then they announced
a far-reaching economic and social agenda which was styled
“Contract With America”.
In a similar way, Ahaneku reveals that he has drawn up a programme
for transforming the state into a knowledge economy, which
will be patterned after the concept adopted by the city of
Bangalore in India. Such a radical transformation would produce
graduates that would create employment for themselves and
others by offering data management services to Nigerian and
foreign corporate organizations.
He explains: “There is what we call knowledge industry.
When you go to Bangalore, India, where ICT (information and
communication technology) has been extensively deployed to
enable people live in India and work for big corporations
located in Europe, the United States, Canada, providing every
imaginable service that is computer-driven. This has spurned
a very viable and profitable industry churning out software
for various applications in the West and rendering all kinds
of computer-based services to these companies.
“So, we want to transform Imo State into a knowledge
economy by ensuring that all the graduates our higher institutions
are churning out yearly are not only IT-literate but proficient
in using information technology to create employment for themselves
and others.
This way, they will live at home in Imo State and still earn
money from outside the state. For instance, some successful
and indigenous IT companies in India and Ghana have been rendering
primary data input services to United States companies. So,
we will encourage the establishment of knowledge-based enterprises.
Such companies do not need heavy physical infrastructure.
Rather, what is required is for the government to provide
good year-round roads and electricity. What we want to do
is to tap into the exciting possibilities of information technology,”
he said. He spoke on other things.
Education sector
We have done quite a lot of study on the condition of our
people. One thing that you can say is that in Imo State, the
biggest industry is education. Take Owerri, for example, within
10 kilometers radius from the city centre, you have six tertiary
educational institutions (Federal University of Technology
– FUTO; Federal Polytechnic – Nekede; Imo State
University; College of Agriculture – Umuagwo; Alvan
Ikoku College of Educationand the Federal College of Land
Resources Technology – Egbeada). That is pretty heavy.
If this is properly tapped into, we want to turn it around.
The government will take an interest in what happens in the
schools.
We want to make sure that continuing education is given to
teachers, to re-position them for the challenges of the information
age. Whatever is due to them, in terms of remuneration, will
be given to them timely. These are the people who produce
the future leaders of the country. Their remuneration will
no longer be placed on the backburner. The era when payment
of teachers was done as an after thought is gone for good.
So, we will go by way of re-training to ensure that they remain
relevant to the emerging trends. We will recognize the teachers
and give them their proper place. Teaching should not be made
to look like a hobby. These days, they spend more of their
time in their farms and little kiosks that they don’t
have time to revise their lesson notes. But if the leadership
shows a lot of interest, they will know that their place in
society is recognized and valued.
On the other side of the coin, we will ensure that the teacher-student
ratio is optimal and accords with the UNESCO’s standard.
You certainly don’t want classrooms looking like a mad-house.
To ensure this, we will build more schools and classrooms
in the existing schools.
To inculcate a sense of respect in our students, observance
of basic hygiene measures will be promoted. For instance,
toilets must be clean and up to acceptable standards. I have
seen some toilet facilities in our schools. They are horrible
and you would be shocked by the sight. Honestly, after beholding
the site, you would lose your appetite for days. Those things
will be changed. We are going to work on it. Mostly, what
is required is not just to spend money. What is required is
for the leadership to show interest. When the leadership takes
interest, people try to do the right thing. Take, for instance,
a school that is dilapidated promptly gets upgraded. The paint
on school walls that has peeled off gets re-done, so as to
give the students and teachers a sense of self-worth. We will
create a congenial environment for learning.
Funding our programmes
We are going to stop frivolous things. We are going to husband
whatever resources we have and ensure a judicious use of our
financial resources.
Transparency will be promoted. If you are transparent in your
administration, that will engender confidence among the people.
They will know that the government means well for them. They
will reciprocate. Talking about transparency, you don’t
need to embark on unnecessary foreign trips. Besides, I am
coming from a private sector setting with a sense of duty.
We won’t carry a very unwieldy bureaucracy. If you look
at it, there is a lot of duplication in the way governance
apparatus is structured. You have the normal civil service
bureaucracy at the same level at the government house and
the legistlature. To a large extent, we are going to shut
down some of the departments, thereby cutting the cost of
running them. Money saved in this way will be used in improving
the schools and health care services.
We are going to empower our people by creating cottage industries.
First, you have to empower the people and increase their purchasing
power before you talk about taxing them. I don’t believe
that it should be the other way round.
Consciously, we are going to grow our business men. We will
teach them the best world-class practices. As a government,
within a certain period, we will raise business men to world
class. In essence, we will create conditions that allow our
businessmen to flourish. Look at countries that have grown
economically, the United States, India, Japan, South Korea
and Taiwan, the governments consciously promoted policies
that encouraged their people to identify and pursue business
opportunities. Government must catapult organizations to success
and cause change.”
Taking Imo youths to the next level
I am going to do good for the greatest number of Imo people.
I am going to work for the common good. I am going to take
Imo to the next level. During my time as Chief of Staff to
the Senate President, Chief Pius Anyim, I empowered many indigenes
of Imo State by creating access for them to various arms of
government. I wrote letters of recommendation to enable people
get employment at federal ministries and parastatals.
When you think about it, that’s what people are looking
for. They are not expecting you to give them monetary gifts
and handouts. The greatest thing you can do for people is
to feel their pains and give them succour in whatever practical
way you can. You will be surprised that you can accomplish
much. When people come in tired, hopeless, despondent, just
by counseling them, they leave your office uplifted. And if
it is possible to take a census of what I did for our people
and, indeed, the whole of Nigeria, I strongly believe that
people will ask me to become the governor the next day. I
am a man of the people. I worked for our people. My duty is
to help and take our people to the next level.”
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