Prince Ejeh Josh
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has assured that his administration, if elected next year, will pursue a vigorous policy that will lead to the production and export of “Made-in-Enugu” products, saying the Nsukka zone would be one of the focal points of industrialization in the state.
Mbah, who gave this assurance on Tuesday at town-hall meetings held in Nsukka South and Nsukka East development centres, in Nsukka local government area, added that the agro-allied industrialisation will focus on three major targets of sufficient food production, making Enugu State the food basket of the nation, and exportation of made-in-Enugu products which will enable the state to earn extra revenues.
The governorship candidate who was reacting to the demands of the people of the centres further said Enugu State cannot be an industrial hub of the country without the input of the Nsukka zone where most of the raw materials needed for the spark off could be found.
Speaking on behalf of the women group in Lejja, Nsukka South Development Center, Barr. Christiana Onah urged the governorship hopeful to hasten the establishment of industries, construction of new roads and inclusion of more women from the area in his incoming government, assuring that the Nsukka women would support him with their massive population.
Equally bemoaning the state of infrastructure in the area, a member representing Nsukka East constituency in the House of Assembly, Hon. Chinedu Nwamba, said the development center had five wards but has no good road connecting them. Assuring Mbah that Nsukka would deliver all their votes to him at the poll, Nwamba appealed that Obimo, Ede-Oballa and Lejja should be linked to enable easy mobility.
On his part, the former Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Engr. Ogbo Asogwa lamented that the area has no water to help them irrigate their crops even as he drew attention to the popular Nsukka yellow peppers used for spices and seasoning.
Urging the gubernatorial flagbearer to consider establishing agro-allied processing industries in the zone, exploiting the oldest iron smelting industry as UNESCO heritage site, gender-friendliness, more political appointments and construction of feeder roads, Prof. Damian Okpata, Dr. Favour Ugwuanyi, Hon. Ugwu Bartholomew and Chief Herbert Ezeugwu promised that Nsukka South would take Mbah’s project as their own project by voting for him en masse in the March 2023 election.
In a related development, Dr. Julius Agbo who spoke for the people of Opi Town, Chief Emma Nwishienyi, High Chief Charlie Ugwu among others from the Nsukka East Development Centre appealed to Mbah to provide water for them, build new hospitals, rehabilitate the existing ones and give them new schools.
Reiterating their commitment to give PDP unflinching support in the forthcoming elections, the notable leaders of the development center commended Mbah’s robust, dynamic and comprehensive manifesto, saying “Nsukka campaign for Dr. Peter Mbah is going to be house-to-house” in the area.
Reassuring the people that their complaints and list of needs had been received and effort would be redoubled to solve them, Mbah noted that the Nsukka zone will play a pivotal role in facilitating the development of the state.
He maintained that all the major and feeder roads in the area were captured in his target of 10,000 kilometers roads promised in his manifesto, adding that massive drilling of boreholes for quality and portable water, rehabilitation of old ones and construction of new health facilities with 24 hours workers will be prioritized in the area by his administration.
“We have released our manifesto. All you have complained about are captured in our programmes for you. We will fulfill every promise we’ve made to you today. Eha-Alumona and Opi are about to enjoy sevenfold of their investments in the PDP since 1999. So, our return on investment will yield exponentially,” the business mogul assured.
He further promised the agrarian communities of his resolve to provide them with seed capital, high-yielding seeds, fertilizer, and other assistance that will scale up their production into a commercial one.
He said: “When you look at our programme on agriculture, it’s exactly what you’re saying. We want to retain our full agricultural value. We want to scale up production. We can only do this by providing you with the enabling environment, the facilities and the seed capital. We will establish a special agro-allied processing zone here and this will enhance the value chain of your agriculture from export.
“We will attract investors by derisking investment flow. We can’t have industries without accessible roads. We are going to tackle that frontally.
“Lejja, Obimo and Ede-Oballa roads should be considered done because the 10,000 kilometers road proposed by us has taken care of them. Your feeder roads will be given attention for local industries and large scale farming”.
The industrialist who promised to complete all the projects inherited by his administration insisted that the 10,000 kilometers road proposed by him was a pessimistic target as he would construct more than that. He stated that new infrastructure that encourage investors in the state was paramount in order to drive the state away from public sector to private sector-driven economy.
