People of Imo North Senatorial Zone of Imo state, has said the senatorial zone needed tangible projects more than the relief material Chief Athan Achonu is promising to provide in place of real developmental projects, if he goes back to the senate. According to them, ”Okigwe Zone is not an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), camp, where inmates are happy and ready to celebrate those who donate relief materials like rice, salt and money to them, as well as, conduct conditional free medical and scholarship programmes for their own selfish political gains.”
” we need tangible and visible projects in the area of completion of existing federal roads and construction of new ones; completion of already attracted higher institutions and attraction of new ones; sustenance of free education; generation of federal employment for our teeming youth population; development of our education, health and agricultural sectors among, other things.”
Regretting that the Igbo man has been deeply marginalized in a country he is part and parcel of and that the current economic crisis the country is presently facing due to the fall in oil price and other natural circumstance, has caused untold sufferings on the Nigerian people, they stressed the need for Okigwe zonal people to common sensically look above petty partisan sentiments to elect a senator who can take the struggle for Okigwe development to the AII Progressives Congress APC, leadership at the centre, insisting that no meaningful impact can come from the opposition at this time as can be deduced from the level of performance of opposition members who are already in the senate. According to a statement issued by the leader of the Okigwe Professionals Forum, High Chief Mike Echerue , in Ehime Local Government Area, weekend, sending an inexperienced candidate of the opposition to the senate will amount to making the same mistake for the second time, as the situation will only worsen the already bad situation without an escape route.
The statement also urges the people of Okigwe Zone to key into the N500 billion APC led federal government intervention scheme for unemployed youths and women which includes a conditional cash transfer that will pay N5.000 monthly to one million Nigerians and a micro-credit scheme for more than 1.5 million people. Other aspects of the scheme includes the engagement of 500 thousand teachers that will earn between N23,000 to N30,000 monthly, home grown feeding programme that will generate employment for about 1.8m Nigerians, as well as, feed over 5.5m pupils and the education support grant programme.
