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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Abia State, Dr. Kelechi Anosike, has pledged to industrialise Umuahia and revitalise its economy through investment in manufacturing, infrastructure and local businesses if elected.
Anosike outlined the proposals when members of Umuahia Urban Men for Good Leadership visited his campaign office on Aba Road, Umuahia, to declare support for his governorship ambition.
He proposed an industrial layout at Ohiya, a battery factory and a cement company, saying deliberate government policies could transform Umuahia into a cosmopolitan city befitting its status as the state capital.
Anosike blamed the city’s underdevelopment on what he described as the practice of successive governors shifting government activities to their home areas.
“Umuahia is not developing. Part of the reason is that every state governor moves the state capital to his area. Anywhere the governor comes from is where the state capital moves. This has made businesses in Umuahia to be dying, instead of growing,” he said.
He also alleged that former governors lacked commitment to the city, claiming that none owned a home there.
“Our determination is to develop Umuahia into a cosmopolitan city. It will not be wrong to site an industrial layout at Ohiya. It’s the government that will designate it. Companies will come in to develop it. So that businesses will boom here. Activities will pick up,” he said.
Anosike promised to engage competent local contractors, arguing that retaining expenditure within the city would stimulate businesses and improve residents’ incomes.
“If government policy changes in favour of the city, it will translate to more money in your pockets.
“If I emerge and my administration comes and gives attention to this city and injects funds, uses local contractors who are living here, they stay here and they spend their money, in three months, you will see the difference,” he said.
He criticised contractors who transferred their earnings elsewhere, adding: “We will use local contractors but we will not do substandard work.”
On industrial development, Anosike said the proposed enterprises would operate commercially through an investment company rather than as government bureaucracies.
“We plan to set up a battery factory in Umuahia but it will be run like a private enterprise, not a bureaucracy. The state government can register an investment company. It will run like a private enterprise because it is profit-oriented.
“Why can’t we have Abia Cement? We have limestone. I can bring Chinese and we float Abia Cement company like a limited liability company. There is a lot to be done for anyone who has genuine intention to develop the state,” he said.
He also outlined plans for Operation Feed Abia (OFA) to boost agriculture and food security, and the Abia Labour and Global Opportunities Agency (ALGOA) to create employment opportunities for young people.
Other proposals included a traders’ microfinance bank to support cooperatives with collateral-free, interest-free loans, as well as health insurance and subsidies.
Anosike said Umuahia needed recreational facilities, including amusement parks, gaming centres and water parks, to provide leisure opportunities and generate revenue.
“I’ve not seen an amusement park, wonderland or a water park,” he said. “Those are one of the low-hanging fruits that we need to set up.”
He maintained that Abia had sufficient resources to finance development, claiming that its local governments had received about N350 billion in three years, with the lowest monthly allocation put at N500 million.
T5he group’s chairman, Endy Paschal, said members decided to support Anosike after deliberating on his manifesto.
“After our deliberations, we decided to pay a courtesy visit to you because, indeed, we believe that come next election, by His grace, that you will be the governor of Abia State,” he said.
