Recently the Anambra State chapter of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors inaugurated its respective committees ahead of the reelection of President Bola Tinubu. The Chairman Anambra Imo River Basin Development Authority Sen Emma Anosike spoke on the gains of South East being part of the centre. OKEY MADUFORO reports.
At a time when there is this clamour for a South Easterner to become the President of Nigeria, most of you are campaigning for Tinubu, why?
There is nothing wrong with any part of this country agitating for the post of President but we in the South East must be students of history in view of what we had experienced in the past.
You cannot put all your eggs in one basket because it amounts to political suicide. When we continue to apply the same tactics and get the same results it doesn’t better the interest of our geopolitical zone.
We had in the past the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) and that was the ruling party while our people were in the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) and at the end we lost out in that power play. Then we had the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) which we were part of its formation and to a great extent our fortunes blossomed.
Later the All Progressives Congress (APC) came into the picture and the party was profiled as anti Igbo and anti Christian. Other geopolitical zones were present and formidable in both the PDP and the APC and at the end we went for the crumbs because we put our eggs in one basket.
Despite whatever you say about the APC, the party is on top and at the centre and other zones have keyed in while we maintain the lone ranger status. It doesn’t make political sense for all of us not to be there because when the chips are down we are at the losing end. Let the clamour continue while we have yet another plan ahead of the coming general elections.
This Renewed Hope Ambassadors, what does that mean?
Yes we are all Nigerians and we expect a better future for us and our children, that is the Renewed Hope Agenda and those who are part of this agenda are the ambassadors. When you look at the regime of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu you would discover a lot changes and the differences inherent in that administration.
For instance when you look at our road infrastructure you will also see that the federal roads in the South East are receiving better attention than before, and with one of our own as the Minister for Works, Engr Dave Umahi, you will agree with me that the South East is on the path of huge infrastructural development.
Let us look at the state of some roads in the South East and South South; from Aba- Umuahia to Ikot Ekpene roads leading to Akwa-Ibom State have been a sorry and gorry sight as vehicles would swim past the muddy flood and rough edges of what is left of that highway built several decades ago.
After such a long and excruciating trip, the drivers would have visit panel beaters who smile their way to the bank daily.
Similarly, you have the Enugu – Okigwe- Umuahia – Aba – Port Harcourt highway which had ultimately sent so many vehicles off the road permanently.
Most of these roads were constructed during the Second Republic under late President Shehu Shagari, and few under the First Republic had remained in different stages of disrepair hence worsening the fate of motorists and commuters.
The regime of President Muhammadu Buhari made some efforts at saving the situation which resulted in the completion of of the Second Niger Bridge embarked upon by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration but which was enmeshed in so much controversy over the cost, size and design of the project.0 Similarly the Enugu – Okigwe- Umuahia – Aba- Port Harcourt road was visited and work started on that long stretch of the road but could not be completed. Same had been the fate of roads such as the Lopka- Enugu and Abakaliki – Afikpo highways while the Onitsha -Awka – Enugu road had commuters face harsh pains of dilapidation of the road.
But under the administration of President Tinubu, an approximately N1.5trn road projects are ongoing in those areas. So far, most of the roads are at advanced phases of completion. Roads such as Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway, Aba – Umuahia road of 56 km has about 48 km of Aba – Ikot Ekpene road to Akwa- Ibom at advanced stages.
Also the Enugu – Onitsha Express way has been completed through the tax credits of the MTN communication company as well as the Second Niger Bridge access road of 17. 5 km dualisaion at the Anambra section of the road with a flyover. Also the Lopka- Enugu road which is about 6.1 km is being dualised including the Abakaliki – Afikpo flyover in Ebony State.
Currently the other lane of Awka – Amansea express way is being rehabilitated for free flow of traffic from the Arroma junction to the boundary of Anambra and Enugu states.
These are some of the tonic that brought about the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President Bola Tinubu and it is believed that come next term in office a lot more would be achieved and you know that politics is localised.
But the country’s economy appears not to be faring well at the moment…
It depends on what you mean exactly by not faring well because there are policies that have been put in place to jump start the growth of our economy.
For instance what the Hon Minister for Finance Olawale Edun is doing are steps in the right direction. There is this New Investment Budgeting that priotises implementation, discipline, measurable performance outcomes and market – led governance structures to unlock Nigeria’s target of a 1 Trillion dollar economy.
It is designed accountability system that links government support to transparent performance towards measurable national incomes, and the Federal Government has continued to consult the private sector leaders to refine an investment budgetary framework. And this is part of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President which is Renewed National Development Plan from the 2026 to 2030.
I must say that this is another landmark investment under President Tinubu’s leaderships such as fuel subsidy removal and foreign exchange reforms. We see the National Economic Council Investment Budgeting as essential towards achieving the scale of growth required to lift incomes, create jobs and deliver lasting prosperity to Nigerians under the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President.
How about food security in Nigeria which is another challenge of President Tinubu?
You see, in the past our people always relied on foreign produce which is the bane of our micro economy when we are rich in agriculture and blessed with enough aquatic splendor. Under the administration of President Tinubu Nigerians have come to look inwards to rediscover themselves, and the over-dependency on food from abroad has drastically reduced.
People have gone back to farm and you can imagine the economic growth of our agricultural sector and this has multiplier effects on that sector. We at the River Basin Development Authority are not resting because moribund ones are being revived for optimal productivity.
Even the state governments are keying in to this process like when we visited the Governor of Abia State Chief Alex Otti and he announced that his administration had commenced the recovering of abandoned farm settlements in his state.
Our visit to Abia state was far reaching because we came to present ourselves to the Governor as a newly inaugurated board by Mr. President and to tell him that we are willing to collaborate with the state government in agricultural development and other areas as well. In this country, we have 12 River Basin Authorities. And this Anambra – Imo River Basin represents the five states in the South-East geopolitical zone.
We have decided to visit all the governors that we are covering. And we also came to Abia State to discuss collaboration between Anambra – Imo River Basin and the state government. Of course, the South East Development Commission is also collaborating with us.
We own the land, we have so much land to use for agriculture. So, they are trying to work with us to develop most of those places. We have a strong irrigation project in Abia.
Before, we used to have Anambra – Imo rice, Anambra – Imo chicken, Anambra – Imo eggs, and so on. Also, apart from agriculture, we are into solar panels and there are a lot of areas we can also collaborate to bring this closer to Abia.
