Immediate past senator representing Imo North senatorial district in the
National Assembly, Chief Sylvester Anyanwu has accused Gov. Rochas Okorocha
of inflicting untold poverty to the people of the state.
Anyanwu who stated this while addressing Presidents-General and women
leaders of the Association of Imo state Indigenous Town Unions from the 27
local government areas of the state at Owerri, alleged that poverty now
walks on four legs in the state because of what he described as the anti
people policies of the Okorocha administration.
“Poverty has become the lot of the Imo people. Poverty now abounds in Imo.
The local government system is not working. Contracts which the state is
supposed to give to its citizen so that the money will circulate within, is
now being given to foreigners. School uniform is being sewn in China when
tailors in Imo state have job to do. If these tailors get the contract to
sew school uniforms, the money will circulate in the state, but the
governor prefers foreign contractors who are mobilized 100%.
“In Amaraku, Anara and others areas, more than 2000 shops have been
destroyed by Gov. Okorocha on the excuse that he is building roundabouts.
What is the economic value of these roundabouts when you destroy places
from where people feed their families? Im yet to understand how roundabouts
will put food on the tables of the people. Development should have a human
face, because you cannot develop a town for the dead. It is only for the
living. We have a serious problem at hand in Imo state and nobody wants to
talk while one person is destroying the integrity of the Imo man.”
The former lawmaker also took a swipe on the governor for its many
controversial policies which he said have brought disunity to the
grassroots.
“How can a governor say he is running a fourth tier government which is
clearly unconstitutional? Fourth tier government is illegal. Okorocha has
destroyed the basic structures through which Imo people are known.
Education is the biggest industry of the Imo man, but it is unfortunate
that he is deceiving the people by claiming to run free education in the
state. For some years, Imo state has been under one form of experiment or
the other and the present administration is the height of these
experiments. “
Anyanwu called on Okorocha to emulate the vision of the second republic
governor of old Imo state, Chief Sam Mbakwe who he said brough governance
more nearer to the people with his grassroot oriented programmes.
“Mbakwe was governor for only four years but he built industries in every
local government in the Old Imo state. Mbakwe built the Ehime Tile factory,
Resin paints, Cupboard factory, Aluminium Extrusion industry, Inyishi, Imo
Modern poultry, among others. These industries employed more than 30,000
persons. Why can’t they be revived? We have oil in Ohaji/ Egbema and Oguta
councils, why can’t we have refinery in the area to create jobs and expand
the economy of the state?”
