From Okey Sampson, Umuahia

 

Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has said his administration has taken the state further in the past seven years, as the works on ground are speaking for themselves.

Disclosing this during a broadcast to mark the 31st anniversary of the creation of the state, Ikpeazu said his administration commenced and delivered over 150 roads in the past seven years.

“One thing I am not in doubt of is the fact that we have taken Abia State further than we met it seven years ago. Our works speak for us. We have delivered many pioneering and indelible landmark infrastructural projects across various sectors of Abia State. These projects will serve as monuments to the work we did during our time long after we have left the stage.

“We have over 150 roads which our administration commenced and have delivered in the course of our tenure. We are strongly advancing work on another 48 roads, and we have a target to finish them before we hand over to the next administration on May 29, 2023.”

Ikpeazu reeled out some of the roads which he said were of strategic significance and economic importance to the state.

Although most of the roads are located in Abia South Senatorial District, Ikpeazu, however, said that in Abia North, his administration had built the Abiriba-Nkporo Road and the Ugwuezi Road in Abiriba.

In the health sector, the governor said his administration recently commissioned the Anne-Marie Jackson Children’s Specialist Hospital in Umuahia, adding that he is constructing an ultramodern 150-bed hospital with kidney and heart specialist centre at the old site of the Aba General Hospital.

He added that government was set to commission an ultramodern diagnostic laboratory for Abia North to be located at Isuikwuato General Hospital. 

Speaking about a master plan for the state, Ikpeazu said: “Today, we have in place, a long-term development plan, a futuristic document which outlines clearly our development pathway for the next 30 years. We, working together with UN-HABITAT, now have a standard and workable master plan for Aba, Umuahia and Ohafia.

“We also have an industrial policy which we worked on with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) to produce for our state. These policy documents were not there before now. Undoubtedly, these will impact positively on our system of governance. When we add these to the massive investment we have made in the area of capacity building for young Abians – development of shoe and garment factories, training of our shoemakers in China, scholarship for our students enabling them to study abroad, promotion of our locally-made products and many other interventions, it becomes evident that our state is ready for the challenges of tomorrow leveraging our innate qualities and God-given attributes.”

In the area of basic education, the governor said his administration had built over 600 new classroom blocks across the state with four model schools and three federal colleges.

“Our primary school enrolment figures have moved from an initial 150,000 in 2015 to about 700,000 today. We have remained on top performance list in WAEC exams in the country, and we are currently number two on the list of states with the least number of out-of-school children in the country,” the governor further said.

Ikpeazu admitted that in the face of the successes, his administration has faced some challenges in the past seven years, explaining the situation this way: “While mentioning some of the modest achievements we have recorded in the course of our administration, I must not fail to acknowledge some of the challenges we have faced, especially in the area of security and management of our payroll, wage-bill, pensions and other emoluments.

“I would like to assure Ndi Abia and all those affected by these challenges that we are working with all concerned to resolve the associated issues expeditiously. I continue to implore the support and corporation of all stakeholders involved going forward.”

Alluding to the 2023 elections, Ikpeazu called on people of the state to ensure that while participating in the ongoing electioneering process, to remember they have no other place to call home than Abia State, adding that they should not set homes ablaze to spite their brethren, stressing that nobody’s ambition was worth the disruption of the peace of the state.