By Magnus Aluma, Abakaliki
Ebonyi State Gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Professor Benard Odoh, has said he will liberate the people of the state from oppression, if he is elected come 2023 general elections.
Professor Odoh made the pledge in a consultative meeting with the leaders of various market unions in the state yesterday, in Abakaliki the Ebonyi State capital. He said that his government will not interfere in the affairs of their unions.
“I won’t come to put chairman for you. I won’t come to put chairmen for Okada riders, Keke riders or building materials dealers. I won’t come to your communities to install town union presidents, it’s not my business at all. My work will be to bring investors to the State,” he promised.
The governorship hopeful noted that there is too much oppression in Ebonyi state, but assured that when he becomes Governor, he will liberate the people, and give them the freedom to operate within the laws.
Odoh further promised to support businesses to thrive in the State, adding that taxes would be harmonized, in a manner that no one would be overtaxed.
According to him, “if I’m your Governor, we won’t use thugs to harass you over taxes, we will sit down with you to agree on the amount to pay as taxes and the modality of payment.”
The APGA governorship candidate also promised to integrate business owners into his administration if he is elected, and maintained that they will become stakeholders because according to him, he has no Godfather.
“If you support me to get to that position, I will not let you down. I observed that not even one person is an importer, amongst you, everybody goes to Onitsha to buy goods, we must raise at least 20 importers amongst you. I will invest money on our people, not on flyovers that have no direct impact on our people,” he said.
He also said that if he is elected governor, he would revisit the case of the traders whose shops and whare houses were destroyed at the Abakpa and the old building materials markets, by the present administration.
“If a government acquires people’s land and say, it’s for a public interest and later share the land to individuals, we won’t encourage that, because blood flows in my veins and we are one people. If you are in pains, I won’t sleep as your Governor. It’s my duty to protect you and your investments,” he lamented.
He, therefore, urged the traders not to be deceived by candidates who would come to buy their votes, pointing to the fact that people are suffering today, because they sold their votes in the previous elections.
Odoh said if he is elected governor, his administration will revamp the State’s education and health sectors, by recruiting no fewer than 4000 teachers and 50 medical Doctors.
In his words, “the schools in our villages have no teachers. The highest you can get in our schools is one teacher and a Head Teacher. Many of our teachers have retired without replacement.”
Continuing, he said, “in the entire Ebonyi State, we have only six doctors, seventeen nurses and one pharmacist in the whole State Ministry of Health. This means, if a woman is pregnant at Okpoitumo, Umuhuali or Ivo, she travels all the way to AE-FUTHA to get medical service.”
He also said his government will turn around the agricultural sector to boost rice production, through adequate provision of incentives to farmers, adding that a large expanse of land will be mapped out for palm plantation and oil mill; while ginger would also be cultivated in commercial quantity, with the processing plant installed.
“When I was in government money was provided for farmers, but it didn’t get to them. Today, more than 70% of rice being milled in Abakaliki rice mill comes from the North. They bring rice from the North, mill here, and write it, Abakaliki rice; is it not deceit? Who is fooling who? We are not growing anything again.” he regretted.
Professor Odoh who contested the previous governorship election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), called on Ebonyi people to eschew sentiments in their choice of who becomes the next governor of the state.
