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*pledges to make state centre of commerce
By; MKPUMA ENYINNA, Abakaliki
Ahead of 2023 general elections in Ebonyi State, the gubernatorial candidate of New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Pastor Adol Awam has pledged to harness all the mineral resources deposited in the 13 local government areas of the state to develop the entire state without depending on monthly allocation.
He also promised to make Ebonyi the centre of commerce when given the mandate to pilot the affairs of the state as governor.
Pst. Awam made this known while addressing journalists in Abakaliki, the capital of Ebonyi State, saying that the state is highly blessed and endowed with different types of mineral resources such as: zinc, salt, lead, crude oil, granite, Iimestone, among others.
He further explained that the presence of these mineral resources deposits in different parts of the state has given Ebonyi a comparative advantage over other states in Nigeria because when harnessed, it will definitely boost the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), thereby reducing dependency and pressure on the monthly allocation from the federal government.
According to him, this can be achieved through special training and technological transfer because it will have great impact on their economy and also create a platform for industrialization and foreign exchange.
In the areas of agriculture and security, Pst. Awam stated that he will first of all, deliver the land of Ebonyi from every Satanic influence that has been igniting inter-communal crisis across the state which will now pave way for farmers to embark on large-scale and mechanized farming for commercialization.
He further noted that he is going to train all the farmers and provide soft loans to support their farm business as well as construct all the rural roads to enable them access their farms and bring out their farm produce to towns.
He also added that if given the mandate, he is going to build independent power station to ensure stable power supply for the industries and other economic activities in the state and equally provide railway that will link the state to others.
The candidate assured that education shall be restructured to give their children quality education.
“I want to contest for the governorship position of Ebonyi State based on my personal conviction that I have something to offer the entire state.
“When I served as the chairman of Ebonyi Local Government Area, I did excellently well and it has been speaking for me till date.
“There is need for us to know what we have in the state in order not to depend on federal allocation.
“I am a miner by profession and a business man and I saw the level of mineral deposits we have in Ebonyi State but the problem is, who can make judicious use of it? Who can harness it and add value to it? But we are talking about oil. Oil was there before and value was added to it and it became something great.
“I have never seen a community or a state that God created empty, it is left for you to look around and discover what God has deposited in the land. This is why the Germans, Chinese, among others do travel down to this place to harness it, while our people are busy looking for white collar jobs, quarreling and writing petitions. Our youth need to be guided.
“We have so many talents here because our people are highly intelligent. They can be taken outside to train them on technological transfer. Bring the Chinese, tell them what we want from them.There will be an agreement to train our own staff. So, this is what I have in mind that God deposited in me.
“Apart from the monthly federal allocation, we have lead, gibson, limestone, salt, crude oil, zinc, etc. With all these mineral deposits, we can take the state forward.
“I want a situation where we can harness these mineral resources, blend it and add value to it. We can build factories here and export our products outside for foreign exchange.
“I want to deliver Ebonyi State spiritually because we have been caged and no matter how much that is given to us, we shall remain poor. I will equally deliver us structurally. When you talk about structure, you talk about projects.When you have structural and human capital development, things will begin to happen.
“Looking inwards and harnessing what we have, will solve our problems instead of going to Abuja.”
