From Victor Nwegede, Abakaliki
Not relenting in his 2023 gubernatorial pursuit, Engr Dr Sunday Andrew Opoke has left the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP with thousands of his supporters to the Young Progressives Party, YPP and emerged as the party's governorship standard bearer in Ebonyi State.
Opoke's seven-point agenda for Ebonyi people include gospel revolution, civil service reform, industrialization, technology transfer, human capital and infrastructural development, security, sports and entertainment.
While expressing the belief that God would use him to change the ugly narratives heralded in the state through gospel revolution, the YPP governorship candidate declared that the state civil service had collapsed in employment and engagement of service.
He, however, vowed to reform the civil service system by observing the principles of rules of engagement in the state.
He said: "There is something very ugly in this state that from 1996 till date, there has not been genuine employment for the youths.
“When Sam Egwu was there as a governor, he only employed few people very close to him and put them in few places. When he was going out, he now did massive employment. Elechi came and removed them.
“When Elechi was going out, he did massive employment and left.
“This one now ( Governor David Umahi) when he will be leaving office, he will also do massive employment. It means, they have no plans for the youths. That employment is a wicked employment because it won’t be up to two years and the next governor will come and remove it.
“So, from the day the state was created, there are no plans for the youths, there are no plans for the young people, there are no plans for graduates, there are no plans for anybody. All they do is employ their family members to occupy leadership positions. The narrative must change."
He pointed out that the state civil service system has collapsed, assuring that if he emerges the governor, "as we are engaging you, we are providing you with the enabling environment to be productive."
He noted that “in Ebonyi State, the greatest assets are the civil servants, because every civil servant has at least minimum of ten dependent relatives," saying if government in power happens to make them poor, by implications, their families and the whole nation, would become impoverished.
He said his administration would create job centres dwelling on entrepreneurial activities, for skill training, acquisition and development, to enable Ebonyi civil servants and residents to have extra means of making a better livelihood.
He assured of introducing 'a learning or earning program' for the citizens of the state between zero to 40 years in his administration, saying, this would be perfected with his agenda on 'technology transfer.'
"By technology transfer, we believe that when the Western countries have continued to believe in Africans, while we chose to be slave to other nations. But when I was in England, I learnt something, Western countries create healthy competition in other countries.
"From instance, in England, we have what is called 'Thinking Room,' where graduates will go and start thinking. They will be there to monitor the economy and technology of other nations, when they can't cope, they take Masters Degree, maybe somebody from France will move to China, vice verse, just to make sure that technology is monitored for the benefit of his country - that will be applied in our own state.
"Our young men will be transferred to other nations of the world. It could be sewing, plumbing, whatever skills you want to learn. You can go to school, whatsoever, you want to do, we choose the best country that offers it and we transfer you there.
"When we transfer our young men there, for instance, if I say go and learn sewing in Singapore, I'm not saying go and learn ordinary sewing, because we have people sewing in our state. I want you to learn the technology attached to that sewing so that when you come back, and we want to establish an industry of sewing, you bring points, innovations and creativities that will change our own.
When we succeed in this technology transfer we will create wealth," he said.
He disclosed that his sole aim to come into governance is to connect God back to his people, and His people back to Himself, and to embark on wealth creation.
He added: "Immediately, we take over the government, we will share Ebonyi youths into fifty-fifty. First fifty will be transferred outside countries all over the world to acquire technology and the remain fifty will stay with us here. After some years we start recovering those we transferred outside the country, those ones here will start going, so that at the end of three to four years of our administration, an Ebonyian will say when I was in Singapore, and other countries. When we recover these people, we will see wealth."
Opoke, an emerging Water Consultant to different countries of the world, assured of human capital and infrastructural development, pledging urban-rural migration, saying he is not a kind of politicians doing local content campaign of building roads, potable water and the likes.
He maintained that social amenities should be seen as the rights of the people, and not used for political campaigns these days.
He expressed his eagerness to industrialize Ebonyi, by ensuring quality living, with safe security, sports ad entertainment, saying his administration would be heroic and impactful one if emerged the state governor in 2023.
Opoke's running mate, Barr Sunday Ogbonnaya, with his wife, Barr Mrs Sunday Andrew Opoke assured of the tremendous transformation of the Ebonyi if they take over the state government in 2023.
The State YPP Chairman, Prince Sunday Oyibe, said the party members were gratified while adopting Opoke as their gubernatorial candidate regarding his encouraging agenda, vast insight and expository predispositions.
