By Humphrey Onyima
Hon. Stanley Okeke is the Chairman of Awgu Local Government, Enugu State. Prior to Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s developmental strides, in this interview with LEADERSHIP Scorecard, he speaks on why he has thrown his weight behind the governor’s re-election bid in 2019.
You have been in front all along, supporting governor Ugwuanyi’s bid for re-election in 2019. Is it because of the project he has brought to your local government area or the fact that the governor is working towards making life better in Enugu State?
Why we are supporting Rt. Hon. Ugwuanyi for the second tenure is not because of the project he brought to my local government, but because of his humane nature and his kind of person. He is a peace-lover who brought peace to the state and has proved to know the mind of the people at every step of the way. Others who did next to nothing bagged two terms, why should we deny the one who deserves another term.
Governor Ugwuanyi flagged off gateway projects in line with an urbanisation project located at Aki n’Ukwa Junction. How far has the project gone and what is your evaluation of its progress?
The project has reached an advanced stage and, even more interesting, it is being treated like a federal project. The Governor has done beyond expectation to go about this project with so much dedication. To be candid, he has done well. Even the contractor handling the project is doing all in his power to ensure that it is completed soon.
The Aki n’Ukwa Junction Project is one of many flagged off by the governor some months ago. At what stage is that project now?
Very true. If you take a look from Aki na Ukwa, you will see Four Corner, 9th Mile Junction, then if you look upwards towards PortHacourt express, you will see Nokpanta and Okigwe junction. And if you are moving towards Aba in Abia State, you will see Umuahia gateway and some other places. I believe that, when they finish the project, it will boost the economy and Aki na Ukwa Junction will become a commercial hub that will serve others. If our people coming home from other states usually stop at 9th Mile and Four Corner to buy one or two things to take to their family members and, suddenly, realize that Aki na Ukwa Junction can serve that purpose, they will now wait till they get here next time they are around this part. So, what he is doing is really going to make that place to be like or, even, better than others.
One of the areas Awgu is lagging behind is in education. How much has this administration done in that aspect?
If you look at the education sector objectively, the governor has done well in the local government. We have about 16 or more schools built in Awgu. He is not only constructing schools, he also bought learning aids and other things to make learning fun and easy for children in this locale.
In this local government, there are schools that have no libraries, others without chairs and even others without IT-learning aids. Ugwuanyi’s administration has made all that possible and, even more. Now, I believe that if you look at that kind of man who has begun so well, you can expect more from him and help him get re-elected. Only then can he do more.
That is to say, the governor has taken some kind of interest in the young people of this local government and has brought many of them into his administration doing a number of things and learning how to lead and make decisions as his SSAs and PAs, SOs and SSO. That’s a man interested in continuum. We can help him get that.
During the last recruitment, you will notice that he picked 50 per cent of the young people from Awgu. His motive could never have been clearer. The picture is clear. In a nutshell, he has done well in carrying the people along and, though others may have a different opinion for reasons best known to them, this is what I think and I will keep telling it to whoever I see.
In Awgu here, we have a youth empowerment scheme and, when you combine these figure with those who have been given some form of platform by this administration, we could have as much as 800 or 1000 young people whose lives have been changed for good. That is something.
The issue of maternal-infant mortality is huge, as far as the Nigerian health sphere is concerned. We all know it is a big challenge in the health sector. Do you think your local government has fared well in the past three years, health-wise?
My take on this is that two things matter most; health, education and rural development. For now, I do not have the statistics to speak about the health system in Enugu State, but, on the whole, things are getting better now, because the state government through the local government is now making more in-roads into the health sector. Most of the health centres in our rural areas are being equipped [more] than before. So, I believe Awgu is not left out in that aspect. The Awgu General Hospital is presently undergoing some work and, during one of our sessions, the commissioner for health raised a number of issues and a number of things are being done to change all that.
Recently the state government through the SA approved the purchase of some state-of-the art medical equipment and Awgu General Hospital was one of the beneficiaries. This government, as much as I know, believes in the sacredness of human lives, especially those of the mother and child, with emphasis on primary health care delivery.
Come July 28, 2018, the governor will be visiting Awgu. What message do you have for the people of Awgu concerning His Excellency’s re-election?
On July 28, 2018, he will be visiting Awgu to flag-off the local government chapter of the Gburugburu’s Movement. The message I will tell my people is that Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has done well and we must come out en masse to support him. He has done well and, as far as the 2019 guber election in this state is concerned, we stand with Governor Ugwuanyi. Our loyalty is not in question. We are going to support him and we pray [that] after the re-election he will do more. There are many projects [which he has started] and these are the reasons, to a large extent, why we want to support him. He is the only governor who has answered us when we call him.
Look at the Technical College of Education he is about to flag-off in Ihe which, over time will be upgraded to a university of education. Work is currently on-going there and, to be candid, the only way we can get that tertiary institution complete and ready for our young people here and outside to attend is if we rally behind Governor Ugwuanyi for second term. I have no reason to mince words.
