From Obinna Odogwu, Awka
All Progressives Congress, APC, aspirant in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, Paul Orajiaka, has said that to change the face of the state, a well thought out education and road insfrastuctural plan was necessary.
In a statement on Monday, Orajiaka noted that education and road construction form part of his six point vision captured in his Security, Health, Electricity, Employment, Education and Road, SHEEER, agenda.
The APC governorship frontrunner disclosed how he engaged a team of world-class educationalists and professionals to make this possible.
According to him, “last year, I engaged a team of professionals to thinker on how best our educational system can be more encompassing and the findings of that team is the fulcrum of my plan for education in the state.
“First, education from primary to secondary level must be qualitative and free. Secondly, I will incorporate compulsory vocation study at those two levels of education. Our young boys and girls are very enterprising and so my plan is to engage them in different vocational studies at the earliest stage.
“Right from primary to secondary school, every child would be compelled to learn a skill because we will set up technical school ventures that will be attached to formal schools where students can learn technical skills side-by-side their formal education.
“Again, we will work with large-scale manufacturers in target industries to design and run vocational training programs near clusters for technical talent.
“My plan is that by the time they are ready for tertiary education, they are already well empowered with various skills to engage in a productive life in the society.
“My attention will also be focused on training, retraining, welfare of teachers and rebuilding the dilapidated educational structure in the state. We will do this by establishing a Support-our-School initiative to draw in private organizations to partner with the state government schools rehabilitation and providing tax incentives for such private organizations.”
Condemning the current deplorable state of roads in the state, Orajiaka noted that he would declare a state of emergency on roads on his first day in office and a comprehensive audit of state of the roads would be carried out in the shortest possible time and credible contractors would be engaged immediately.
“The experience I had during my last tour of all the local government areas in Anambra was certainly not a pleasant one. Journeys that could have taken minutes, took several hours. Even some key communities especially in the riverine areas are completely cut off from social and economic activities in the state. It is sad; and regrettably should not be so. By my first 100 days in office, I hope to have been able to fix about 50 per cent of the roads.”
“Our plan will be to develop a road network that facilitates the movement of people and commerce with special attention given to roads that link communities that have great economic value for the state.
“To achieve this, we will focus on a framework for engaging FDI in the infrastructure sector to leverage the multiplier effect of infrastructure as an enabler for growth in various sectors of the state. The focus will be on road infrastructure projects to connect the entire state and support efficient movement of goods and persons.”
“We will create a comprehensive infrastructure investment plan with a focus on road through individual infrastructure project proposals with business plans that engage the private sector through public-private partnerships.”
Orajiaka noted that the comprehensive plan of his SHEEER agenda which is contained in a pamphlet would soon be distributed to all indigenes of Anambra State to help them make informed decisions come November 6, 2021.