From Geoffrey Anyanwu, Enugu
Determined to see a new Enugu State after the forthcoming general election, indigenes of the state living in Abuja have set an agenda and a road map for the incoming administration in the state
The indigenes under the auspices of Hilltop Club, Abuja, organised a “policy dialogue on Enugu State of our dream,” to engage the governorship and other candidates of the various political parties in the state for the 2023 election.
Delivering the keynote speech at the event, former Minister of Power Prof Barth Nnaji stressed that Enugu State would be free from decades-long political, policy, legislative, and regulatory constraints if residents would take advantage of the 2023 election to elect credible leaders.
Nnaji who frowned at the absence of the candidates in the election who were the main focus said, “If we are going to talk about the Enugu State of our dream, those who are campaigning to govern the state should be here.
Only the governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Frank Nweke Jr. was present among the Guber candidates, while the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Peter Mbah sent a representative, Okey Ogbodo, then the Senatorial candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for Enugu North Senatorial District, Emeka Eze was also present.
The former minister who commended the Hilltop Club for the engagement stated that for any elected leader to reposition the state to the part of growth, he or she must focus on non-inclusive economic growth, macroeconomic instability, infrastructure deficit; human capital deficit and skills gap.
He noted that the failure of the government to make the state conducive for booming economic activities was responsible for the youths of the state now seeking greener pastures outside.
He said, “Our youths go out to seek greener pastures largely because we haven’t made this place conducive enough for them to stay in. Western people move not by compulsion but by choice unlike here where our youths are forced to move out.”
Nnaji however, assured the people that it is possible to reinvent Enugu and make it a place for investments, adding that focusing on modern agriculture would stem the tide of unemployment.
According to him, “This is because agriculture was used to develop some regions, particularly the Eastern region, in the past. We can still do it in our own time by embarking on strategic agricultural developments within the local government areas.
“Development of Eastern region indicates that we had the vision to improve the infrastructure. There’s much that can be done.
“Another area is education. We had good quality education but it never reached everybody. Government should choose some schools to run and allow the private sector to do the rest. That way, there will be quality education in both government-owned and privately run schools.
“We have to re-engineer the school system to be able to produce the kind of manpower our economy needs. This means that vocational schools must be brought back. Tertiary institutions must change the way we produce graduates. Public institutions must rise to take their own place.”
Welcoming the guests, the chairman of the club, Chief Chris Okafor, who also presented the blueprint said it was their humble way of providing a roadmap for an orderly and comprehensive development of their state Enugu
He listed seven thematic areas of focus by the candidates to include: agriculture/food security/rural development; education, health services, and transportation, among others.
The APGA candidate, Nweke Jr, aligned himself with the submissions of Nnaji and restated the need for the people of the state to elect in the forthcoming election people with character and who are credible.