Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Imo State, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, has declared that an APGA-led government in Imo would kick out visionless and bad governance.

A statement from the Senator’s media office indicated that the Senator made the declaration while formally launching his 2019 campaign bid at the 40,000-capacity Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri at the weekend.

The Senator also declared that with him on the driver’s seat of Imo from May 29, the government would be able to reposition education, health, collapsed infrastructure base, security, agriculture and industrialisation.

According to him, the present crop of Imo indigenes have a duty to make the difference by bringing APGA to the Government House in Owerri adding that the future generations of Imo State may not forgive the people if they remain passive and indifferent to the lamentable state of things in the state.

The Senator also paid tributes to the founding fathers of Imo State, like De Sam Mbakwe, Ndubuisi Kanu, Chief R.B.K Okafor adding that a peep into the fortunes of the state since the exit of those great leaders shows a leadership failure, betrayal of hope and derailment of the dreams.

He added: “As patriots, we are determined to take up the challenges of recovering Imo and rebuild it to restore the hope of our people in their state and future. An APGA-led government with me at the driver’s seat will reposition education, health, our collapsed infrastructure base, security, agriculture and industrialisation.

“On education, we shall ensure adequate funding of the sector, capacity building; prompt payment of salaries of lecturers and teachers – for adequate motivation, which will enhance learning in all our educational institutions.”

He lamented that almost all the professional courses in the Imo State University are not accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC), adding that Medicine and Law faculties are the worst hit.

He said: “On assumption of office, my government will quickly put measure in place in concert with the NUC to secure accreditation for all the courses in the state university.

“The Imo State Polytechnic in Umuagwo will also receive a new lease of life as all its courses will get full accreditation under my watch, as governor. We shall encourage the missionary schools with subventions and grants to enable them run their schools more effectively.

“We will genuinely implement free education at both tertiary and secondary school levels. A synergy will be created between the education sector and the state’s economy to ensure that our institutions run courses and produce graduates that will serve the manpower needs for the economy. Education is our greatest industry and it will receive the attention it deserves.”

He further promised that agriculture will remain the mainstay of Imo State’s economy, as over 70 percent of the people, who live in the rural areas, are engaged in agriculture, adding that extension services will be offered to the rural farmers with incentives to enable them produce more for domestic consumption and for commercial purposes.

Araraume observed that unemployment has hit the roofs in the state, as according to him, job creation will be a top priority for his government. He promised “honest and properly’’ designed skill acquisition programmes which will be implemented to make the youth self-reliant.

He further said: “Workers will no longer cry before they can get their wages; prompt payment of salaries of civil servants and regular promotion of deserving workers will be carried out regularly to motivate the civil servants and harness their energies for development.

“Our pensioners who have been having a raw deal in the hands of insincere leaders will have a reason to be happy for serving the state. As senior citizens, the payment of their pensions shall remain a priority area to our government.”

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