By Hon. Sir prince Eleazar Onyewuchi Ogbonna

With each passing day, we draw closer and closer to the elections which will determine the future of Nigeria as a country, but particularly for the people of Imo state. We have to keep raising the issues that affect our state and our collective interest.

At this point, we will not fail to continue highlighting the need for Imolites to take their stand in the forthcoming elections to ensure that credible leaders are elected into office. The present drama playing out in APC is a clear sign that the party has failed and has nothing new to offer our people. 

The crisis on the party shows that the APC is only interested in getting into power even though we all know that they have failed woefully in the last eight years in Imo state.

Because of the massive failure of the APC, many of its members are now running to APGA. 

But we all know that they only trying to use APGA as a channel for getting to power when in actual sense, their real plan is to decamp to another party if they achieve their aims. But this time around, we will not let that happen. We already know their tricks.

My dear people of Imo state, amid the political crisis that is almost dividing our land, the only party that stands out from the rest is the United Progressive Party [UPP]. Together with its governorship candidate, Hon. Sir Prince Eleazar Onyewuchi Ogbonna, our state will be taken to the rightful place of growth and prosperity that God has destined for us a people.

At this point, it is pertinent to state again that UPP is highly focused on improving the lives of the people and ensuring that citizens of Imo state are brought out of the present unpleasant situation we all find ourselves.

Our focus remains on free and compulsory education at the primary and secondary levels. This is because for our state to grow, our people should have quality education that will enable them to make meaningful contributions to the development of the state. 

We would be providing scholarships for exceptional secondary school students that would cover their university education.

UPP is also aware that it is not every young person that would want to attend university. As a result of this, the government of Hon. Sir Ogbonna will be establishing skill acquisition centers that would provide quality training in various areas.

Furthermore, discussions are already ongoing with both foreign and local investors to come into Imo state to establish companies and industries that would boost the economy of the state and create thousands of jobs. At the moment, we already have commitments for the establishment of over 500 new companies in Imo state.

In the same vein, we are going to be make huge investments in agriculture. We cannot continue to depend on petroleum as the only source of revenue. With the unstable nature of the petroleum market, there is the urgent need for the state to diversify into agriculture so as to ensure that our economy continues to grow at a sustainable level. Research has shown that the agriculture sector has the potential of directly employing thousands of people and creating thousands of indirect jobs and opportunities.

The state of our traders today is a pitiful one. We intend to support our traders by working with banks to provide loans to grow and improve their business. Our public transport system will be improved to make it accessible and affordable. This will be in line with our road network projects. The Keke operators will also be systematised to make them function more effectively.

The healthcare sector is an area very strategic and important in the plans of Hon. Sir Ogbonna. We plan to build world-class medical facilities in every local government area, as well as several community medical centres in the rural communities. This will cater for the medical needs of the people, who presently do not adequate access to affordable medical care.

Furthermore, infrastructural development is the major area of focus. 

Our road networks need to be increased and used to connect various parts of the state especially the rural areas. The provision of better road network will improve business and commerce in the state. In the same vein, many of our communities still do not have access to clean and portable drinking water. Our plan is to create a special programme that would provide water to every community on the state. With access to clean water, several water borne diseases would be prevented.

The experience our civil servants and pensioners are going through is a very sad one. The workers ra presently being owed months of outstanding salaries. The same thing applies to the pensioners, unfortunately. Our plan is to ensure that our funds are properly managed to ensure that workers and pensioners are paid as at when due. This is what our people expect from a responsible government and that it exactly what we are going to do.

The security of lives and property in Imo state is of paramount importance. We intend to properly support the police command in the state with the provision of modern security gadgets and funding. In addition, the UPP government will partner with local communities to strengthen and support vigilante groups. A lot of effort will be put into engaging the people so as to carry out effective community policing.

I wish to use this medium to call on all Imolites to go out and get their permanent voters card [PVC]. This is the only way you can be part of the process of choosing your leaders. If you do not register and get your PVC, there is no way you can make the desired difference.

Let us stand up in one voice and make our vote account. Let’s not sit back like we have done in the past. Imolites arise and act. UPP is the forward my people. We need to go back to God and commit our ways to him so that He will shower His favour upon our land. We need to put our trust in God so that he will heal our land and lead us to our land of promise.

God bless Imo state. I love Imo state.