The Catholic Diocese of Awgu, Enugu State, has commended the blueprint of the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Peter Mbah, describing it as ambitious, comprehensive and assuring.
The diocese spoke during an interactive forum at the Bishop’s Court, Awgu, where Dr. Mbah made presentations on his plans for the state to the clergy on Tuesday.
The Bishop, Most Rev. John Okoye, said they had the opportunity earlier to go through the manifesto, and were convinced the PDP gubernatorial candidate had good intentions for the state.
He recalled how the governorship candidate had been going about feeding the poor, building state-of-the-art hospital, engendering development and touching lives even with his personal resources.
He equally extolled Mbah’s exploits in the private sector as founder/CEO of Oil and Gas Ltd, which he noted is the number one in the nation’s downstream subsector, and haven employed over thousands of Nigerians, saying it was a reassurance that he could do well.
Also lauding Mbah’s proposed programmes for the state, a priest, Fr. Leo Ilechukwu, said a good number of members of the clergy in the Catholic Diocese of Awgu attended his manifesto presentation in October, made critical evaluations, and found his blueprint to be the best in the state.
“The situation of our country today is such that religious institutions can no longer sit on the fence.
“We need people like you, who are adding values, and changing the narratives. You’ve governed well in the private sector space, and I can say that nothing can be more appealing and convincing than your mantra, Tomorrow is here.”
Outlining some of his strategies for addressing the challenges facing the state, Dr. Mbah assured that he would build the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the present $4.4 billion to $30 billion by moving the state from a public sector driven economy to a private sector driven economy.
He reiterated that infrastructure and security of lives and property remains paramount in his manifesto, stressing that it is only when there is security that investors would be attracted to the state to establish their businesses and industries.
Mbah said his intervention area in ensuring security would be three-pronged, including an integrated programmes to accelerate youth employment and end poverty; integrated rural development programmes; along with kinetic and non-kinetic approaches.
He noted that it was about time states charted a rout to development and prosperity outside federal allocations, as that could not lift any state.
He however pledged his resolve to exploit the dormant resources in the state to create more jobs for the citizens by turning them to productive assets that would engage the youths and make them useful to the society.
While assessing the possibility of creating over four hundred thousand jobs in each senatorial zone in the state through the agriculture sector, Mbah maintained that the hideouts of criminals in the state will be cleared and designated as special economic zones for commercial farming.
Mbah, who further spoke on other issues, promised to achieve a zero percent hunger in the state within 8 years of his administration through integrated rural development programmes, cross-cutting programmes, technical and vocational training centres, N100 billion revolving capital for start-up investors, provisions of basic amenities among other incentives.