In a recent media chat between Abia State Online Media Practitioners and Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah the President of the Master
Energy Group. In this media chat, Ogah expressed disappointment that
the happenings in Abia State and blamed the ruling party as the reason
behind the present ugly situation of the State. Read full interview:
WITH WHAT YOU HAVE ON THE GROUND, WHAT CAN YOU DO TO IMPROVE ON THE
LIFE OF ABIANS, IF YOU ARE GIVEN THE OPPURTUNITY TO GOVERN ABIA COME
2019?
I thank you so much for this question, but I have to tell you that
there are a lot of ways to touch the lives of the people. I don’t have
to be Governor to touch the life of Abians and that is what we have
demonstrated with the complex you just visited. There are other ways i
have developed through i touch Abians, i have people under my
scholarship across the state, i embark on empowerment programs from time
to time.
Moreover, i have not made up mind concerning 2019, i am still praying
but i believe that i can always do something because there are so many
things to be done to touch the lives of Abians and that is what i am
already doing. I don’t have to be Governor to do that. For me i believe i
have a lot to offer to Abians, its not about politics, i didn’t come
into politics because i want to be Governor, i wanted to find a way to
offer my services to the people in my own little way. I wanted to prove
to the people that a lot of things they have been told that is
impossible are actually possible. I wanted to demonstrate to Abians that
Governance is very easy, if you truly come with the intention to serve.
So i believe there is a lot i can offer to the people, like creating
jobs for them, insuring that you are empowered and getting their hopes
rekindled.
AS A STAKEHOLDER IN THE ABIA PROJECT, HOW DO YOU ASSESS THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION?
I have said it before in the last interview i granted that the PDP in
Abia State is structured like a cult that cares for its own members
while the masses are left to languish. There is no vision, there is no
template, there is nothing in place, there is no drive, there is no
passion, no program. Abia PDP Structured Governance like a national cake
to be shared zone by zone. Each zone comes to power to cut their share
and go while the people suffer. Anyone who comes to power begins to
think first on how to acquire properties in different parts of the
world, without thinking about the people. They don’t care. Governance is
about service, it is about leaving a lasting legacy. Can you Imagine that the achievements of the old Eastern region can
still not be attempted today, rather the infrastructures built then are
decaying or being sold. None of todays Governors of the south east today
has attempted to replicate the vision of just one man. Governance is
about vision, you have to sit down and project where you want your
people to be in the next 10 years, 20 years or 30 years. Payment of
Salaries should not even be talked about, because it is always part of
the wage bill. I believe that if you love the people, you will first of
all pay them their salaries. There shouldn’t be any excuse for owing
workers, because Government receives various revenues, From IGR, to
Federal Allocations, to windfalls. That apart because its recurrent,
lets talk about capital expenditure, where the house of legislators
approve funds for a particular project several times yet the legislators
cant speak out against this fraud. Is it that we are cursed?
Anyways, as far as am concerned, there will be no PDP in Abia State
come 2019. I don’t see any justification for any human being dead or
alive to vote for PDP in Abia state. What we are saying is that Abia
must move forward. We have stayed so long in the dark. Even the people
being governed should ask questions when things are going wrong, as it
is today. People should speak out, that is what is needed to birth
change. I am speaking the way am speaking because i don’t need anything
from Abia State in my community. They have done nothing for us. I built
the schools, they are the best, i built the police station, i built the
hospitals and equipped them, so i don’t need government to do anything
for me. The People should stand up and say enough is enough. I can afford to
go and live in America, but what about our people? Look at what is
happening in Abia, businesses are packing up, no roads in Aba, nothing
is going on, warehouses are being converted, what we see is moribund
industries everywhere. I have told them before that we must work with
the private sector to develop the state, but no business man can invest
in any state, when they don’t trust the people in power. People in
public office should endeavour to be open, because no matter how we try
to hide the truth, it must come to the fore one day, and if you like by
then run to America or Germany, you will be made to come back and pay
for it, that is why you see people resisting change, because they know
the evil they have perpetrated. I don’t want to loose my faith, my
sanity, my conscience and intergrity because i want to be a Governor,
its better i give up Governorship and have all these, because there are
better days ahead.
NOW THAT YOU HAVE DUMPED PDP FOR APC, WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO TO IMPROVE THE IMAGE OF THE PARTY IN THE STATE?
Recall that by the time we came into PDP in 2013, the party was
almost dead in Abia State, people don’t want to hear about PDP anywhere.
But we changed that within a very short time. We did in the past we
will still it again. We will go into our communities and inform our
people. PDP is not Igbo mans Party, there is nothing like that. Abia
state today needs national focus, Abia needs to be connected to the
national grid politically, because there are a lot of benefits at the
center, we need to reposition Abia for the good of the people.
Moreover, Abians are wonderful people, they are not too keen about
the party, they are more interested in the person and for now i am not
too bordered about the Governorship, i want us to first build the party,
lets take APC to every nook and cranny of the state, that we will do
and after that the party can field her own candidates, which will be
people of unequalled character. By October 1st we will declare and it will be a total Tsunami for the
PDP in the state. We will let people know why PDP should be rooted out
in Abia state. We have statistics, we have fact, we have figures, We
have evidences to show to the whole world when the time comes why PDP
should be phased out. So APC taking PDP out of Abia is very simple. We
are already drawing the strategy. So today in Abia State, APC is the
party to Reckon with.
RECENTLY THERE IS WHAT SEEMS TO BE A RAY OF HOPE IN ABIA, THE SENATE
APPROVED FOR ABIA TO BORROW $200M FROM ADB, WHAT IS YOUR TAKE SIR?
A ray of hope? You call borrowing a ray of hope? Borrowing cannot be a
ray of hope. It is a ray of catastrophe. For What? What are the
projects they are borrowing the money for? I am totally against the
taking of any more facility from anywhere. Do you know that Abia is
indebted to the tune of N72bn, go and check with DMO. What have we done
with the one we borrowed in the past? If they say they want o borrow,
they should define what they want to do with it. If they are borrowing
for commercial purposes then it is understandable, but if it is
borrowing a facility that will be misappropriated, then there is no hope
there, it is merely hopelessness. The House of Assembly are not doing their job. Why will they approve
for the state to borrow when the previous ones have not been properly
utilised or accounted for? The state assembly should fight this battle
for the people, i don’t want to believe that they have being compromised
as people are saying, but they should also know that Nigerians no
longer spare compromising and unperforming legislators, some legislators
were even slapped in the North.
Am not against borrowing money, but you have to show what you have
done with the one you borrowed before and tell us what you intend to do
with the one you want to borrow. What are we even borrowing for? If Abia
can be well structured, we can make well over N100m everyday from the
leather industry(if they want that they can come for
consultancy…laughter), its not by touting, pursuing Okada, Keke people
and Trailer Drivers, the world has gone beyond that. There a lot of
initiatives that needs to be developed in the state to generate cash
flow from Aba, Umuahia and across the state. You don’t necessarily need
to borrow. How much did Peter Obi borrow? Anambra is larger than Abia.
They have rebuilt Ochanja Market, and other markets are springing up in
Anambra state. And other cities like Nnewi are emerging in the state.
Look at Ebonyi here, few years ago, if you were transferred to
Abakaliki, you will be crying, but today people are leaving Umuahia to
go and live in Abakaliki. Is it not a disaster? So i believe that the
state Assembly owe the people Explanation for all the Loans they have
been approving without a commensurate executed projects!
WHAT INFORMS YOUR DECISION TO INVEST AT HOME AND WHY DO YOU THINK THE
PRESENT ADMINISTRATION HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO ATTRACT ANY INDUSTRIALIST?
After noticing what is going on in Nigeria, i believe that regional
development is the best approach, that is how i started in 2006 to
develop my place. Instead of stacking money in foreign banks, it gives
me joy that i can create jobs for my people and Abia youths. And it has a
ripple effect. All the money i have spent on the project you visited
and the monies i spend on workers salaries still revolve around the
state, because the people working for me live in Abia with their
families, so they spend their money here.
Moreover i am one person that believes that i don’t need to stay in
Lagos or anywhere as an old man, i should stay in my village and I
should have everything i have in lagos, around me in my village. That is
what i am working towards. So if God gives us life and Jesus tarries, i
should be able to transform this place to a city, and everything i
want, i will be able to have it here. So The major reason for investing
home is to give our people hope, because the only way to eradicate
vices is to create jobs, that is why there are a lot of vices in Aba,
there are no jobs. Look at Golden Guinea Umuahia, do you know the number
of people who lost their jobs there? Those people laid off are still
living in Umuahia. Imagine what their lives and their families would be
like today.
Thus if the state can partner with private investors, there is a lot
of jobs that can be created. Government only needs to create an enabling
environment for them. Government needs to build the people hope, the
international community needs to believe in the government and trust the
number one man, that is the only way to attract investors!
This Publication is a product of the interaction Between the online media group and Dr. Ogah.
Source: Abia Facts News
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