GOVERNORSHIP candidate of Imo State chapter of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, said on Monday in Lagos that the attraction for him to contest and become the next governor of the state is because a lot of things are not in proper shape and, therefore, the compelling need to address the challenges that “nobody has seriously dealt with.”
Ararume said this while addressing newsmen in Ikeja area of the State, even as he asserted that becoming governor of the state would not add value to him financially or otherwise, but the good people of Imo that he had resolved to serve to the best of his ability.
The governorship candidate pointedly identified the infrastructural decay in the state currently, saying roads in Imo State were in very poor condition, while education, health, security sectors, among others were poorly serviced, with the state ranking 34th position in the country on the ease of doing business in spite of being properly positioned as the largest oil producer in the eastern part of Nigeria.
According to Ararume, Imo State currently does not have a functional general hospital, saying that not only was the education not free, the content was zero as the teachers’ quality impacting the knowledge was nothing to write home about.
“If you go to Imo, all of those things that make me want to serve, none of them have been addressed. The attraction for me to become the governor is that things are not in proper shape in Imo State, nobody has seriously dealt with the challenges Imo State has.
ALSO READ: What Nigerians stand to miss in the 2018 Electoral Amendment Bill
“The quality of education has not improved, they may say education is free but it is not free,” Ararume said, lamenting the quality of some of the teachers, who he stated could not give to their students what they didn’t have.
“Look at road infrastructure. You can’t ride a kilometre in Imo smoothly and that’s why the governor said rains in Imo is acidic. I don’t know whether rains falling in Lagos is anything different from one falling in Imo,” he said, just as he noted the absence of any known construction giants in the state like those present in Lagos.
Ararume, while saying governing Imo would not be “a pleasant experience,” however, promised to address infrastructural decay within the state, “starting by making the roads within the metropolis motorable,” in what he termed: “Operation zero pot-holes.”
This was just as he assured that the ease of doing business where Imo State ranked 34th as of today would be vigorously pursued to bring the state within the first 5th in the country.
While promising immediate payment of arrears of pensions and gratuities owned to civil servants, cancellation of all illegal deductions made from salaries of workers and restructuring of the civil service with adequate training, promotions and prompt payment of salaries to ensure effectiveness, among others, the APGA governorship candidate assured that reassessment of the educational institutions and re-invigoration of the sector for free and qualitative education would be part of his priority.
Ararume also touched upon issues of local government administration, the agricultural and health sectors, among others, saying he would ensure a review of all health institutions in the state with a view to rehabilitating and upgrading existing health centres and general hospitals.
“We shall offer free medical service to pregnant women during and after birth,” he said, promising to restore local government autonomy through the conduct of council elections within one year of his assumption of office.
The post I want to govern Imo to address its numerous challenges ― Ifeanyi Ararume appeared first on Tribune Online.