By UNU
#AbiaOnline
In our dispensation, ‘good governance’ is no longer a mere philosophy. Concrete steps have to be taken for realizing its goals. It is putting people at the center of development process.
Despite a number of challenges in the year 2017, ranging from economy recession, which affected the State revenue projections to the litigations challenges, Governor Okezie Victor Ikpeazu has made appreciable progress on all the sectors that institutionalized the five pillars of development of his administration. It has established a developmental framework that is people-centered, thus realigning development approaches to underscore the relevance of putting Abia citizens at the center of all aspects of the development process.
On road construction, Governor Ikpeazu’s promise to deliver quality and sustainable roads to the people of Abia State has resulted to construction of several roads across the entire Abia State and more particularly, Aba, the commercial nerve centre of the State and Umuahia, the capital city.
Worthy of note is that these roads built have so far withstood 2 seasons of heavy downpour. Also, Governor Ikpeazu’s commitment to quality and durability of roads built by his administration has propelled him to construct a 6.5 Km underground water drainage system at Faulks road Aba, to channel flood from the Ifeobara Pond into the Aba River. Although very expensive, the design also extends to Ariaria International Market, thus ensuring that upon completion, the market will never again, experience the flooding associated with the Ifeobara Pond.
Also, it won’t be out of place to highlight that the internal roads that cuts in-between the sections of Ariaria International Market are already being asphalted.
More so, the construction of the first ever 6 lane with a dedicated BRT Lane in Abia has commenced on the Port Harcourt Road, also in Aba. It has been estimated that the road will be completed in the next 18 Months. The road construction strategy of the Governor, also extended to the Rural Roads Project(RRP) which includes the construction of 10km of roads in each of the 17 LGAs in the State is actively going on in six LGAs and within the next 18 months, all of those roads will be ready for commissioning. Governor Ikpeazu’s road infrastructure revolution is deliberate as it is considered as an enabler to drive agriculture, trade & commerce and other sectors of the economy in the State.
By the initiation of the execution of community-based projects, tagged One-Ward-One-Project by Governor Ikpeazu, with 10 to 15 million naira will be committed on a project of high impact in each electoral ward in Abia State. The target of course, is to enhance trade and commerce as well as improve lives of the people in Abia Stste.
With this plan, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu is committed to ensuring that every community in Abia State will feel the touch of Government in the course of his tenure.
Equally, this administration recently launched a healthcare outreach for the elderly in the State, a pioneer programme aimed at reaching out to the aged in the communities with medical care. The programme has been designated to touch more lives going forward. In addition, the administration is out to build a specialist hospital dedicated for child and maternal care, designed to ensure that no child is lost at birth in Abia State.
In trade and commerce, apart from the intense campaign the Governor barked on to encourage patronage of our locally made products, the Governor has sponsored the first batch of 30 shoemakers out of a proposed 100 from the State, bid to travel to China to undergo intensive training in automated shoemaking technology. The trainees are there in China at present, upon their return, Abia State government will procure the full range of equipment required to set up an Abia State Automated Shoe Factory which shall enable Abia State consolidate its position as the preeminent destination for leather works in Nigeria and shall serve as an enabler of the diligent work the manual producers have been doing over the years in Aba. These trainees will form the nucleus of the workforce in the factory. It is important to note that three out of the thirty youths that have just travelled to China are not from Abia State but are resident in Aba and are fully involved in shoemaking. This underscores Governor Ikpeazu’s commitment to ensure a fair deal for every resident and taxpayer of Abia State irrespective of State of origin.
Under Ikpeazu’s administration, Abia has reestablished a robust working relationship with international donor agencies like World Bank, USAID, including such World Bank assisted agencies like NEWMAP, RAMP among others who are all keen on working with this administration to move the State forward. Counterpart funding payments have been made in various sectors which has unlocked hundreds of millions of dollars in hitherto trapped funds for the development of Abia State.
Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture have all returned to Abia to further contribute to the development of the State.
From Agricultural sector, Health sector to Education, Environment to Finance and beyond, Abia State is partnering with relevant international development partner organizations for the development of the State.
The State Government’s ingenuity in disbursement of bailout and Paris club refunds earned Abia State commendation from the ICPC in a period when other states were being accused of diverting the funds.
Governor Ikpeazu has remained committed to the welfare of workers in Abia State and has paid up to date, the salaries of the MDAs. He has also promised to dedicate the third tranche of the Paris Club refunds to paying teachers and pensioners.
There is therefore need for all to garner support for a Governor-at-Work and work towards the re-election of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who has not just done all these but has vowed to do the more in ensuring Abia State is taken to higher heights.
ONE GOOD TENURE DESERVES ANOTHER
Ubani Newman Ubani (UNU) writes from Umuahia.
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