Erstwhile Minister of State for Health, Fidelis Nwankwo has declared his intention to contest the 2023 governorship election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, in Ebonyi State.
Nwankwo made his declaration at Kilometer 2 Abakaliki-Ogoja Express Way opposite CPS, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital.
He further disclosed that when elected into office, his administration would be anchored on four cardinal programmes of functional education: job creation, youth employment, rural infrastructure, and due process.
He said, “At present, the foundation of education in the state which is primary school is in a sorry state. The teachers’ population is no more than 30% of the requirement. We will fill this gap by recruiting the best and brightest sons and daughters of Ebonyi State.
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“Those who have qualifications in education like NCE and Bachelors Degree, especially in the areas of Science, Mathematics and English language will be retained and posted to our elementary and junior secondary school, while those with a university degree will be sent to senior secondary schools,” Nwankwo vowed.
He assured that his government would ”pursue with aggression, youth employment in both formal and informal sectors with an emphasis on filling quotas of Ebonyi state’s share of positions at the Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies”.
”We will also focus on the provision of enabling environment and grants, low unit loans, and free training to help youths create their business in the areas of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises.
The former minister cited the neglect of rural areas ”in the provision of basic necessities of life like clean water, good sanitation, roads, electricity and in favour of white elephant projects that hardly hold value to our lives but consume a chunk of state funds” as the bane of underdevelopment in Ebonyi state.
He pressed further, “Provision of a decentralized water system, rural electrification, and rural roads will be a priority issue to my government. This we hope will trigger a massive growth in micro and small industries in rural areas. The development of the primary healthcare system will come under this section.
“My government will not only provide a government that is characterized by the sincerity of purpose but also act with civility and anchored on established due process of running government business. This will help to restore normalcy in all facets of our life including the security of lives and properties of the citizens.
“As a matter of policy, all those who live in the state do their business here and pay taxes will be regarded as a citizen of the state and accorded the full right of the citizens. The term non-indigene will therefore have no place in my government,” Nwankwo averred.
He further stressed that government would revisit the issue of all those whose properties including shops at Abakpa market and buildings in other parts of the state were destroyed with a view to replacing them or paying them compensation.”
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