Youths of Enugu North senatorial district, resident in Abuja, have backed the choice of Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to succeed Governor Sullivan Chime, urging political leaders in the state to support him.
Ugwuanyi, Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Maritime was recently endorsed by the Enugu caucus of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) ahead of the party’s governorship primaries . Some governorship aspirants in the state including Senator Ayogu Eze have kicked against the endorsement.
However, some youths, speaking under the aegis of Enugu North Youth Alliance (ENYA), have hailed the move  and insisted  that  Chime’s decision is as democratic as the PDP’s endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan for a second term.
Addressing journalists in Abuja yesterday, ENYA President, Madason Chukwunedum, said Governor Chime has powers to present to Enugu people, his choice of successor.
The youths who said “Chime has done the right thing” wondered why political godfathers in the state do not want the progress of Enugu North.
According to him , “Hon. Ugwuanyi is eminently qualified to be the governor of Enugu”.
He maintained   “having been three-term member of the House of Representatives where he currently is Chairman of the Committee on Maritime, Ugwuanyi has been a valuable asset to Enugu people and we are in support of his choice as successor to Chime”.
“Youths cross Enugu State will testify to his kindness and large heartedness. He is a man who empathises with the weak and the strong, the rich and the poor. He identifies with everyone irrespective of his place of birth. He is astute and methodical in what he does. We believe Chime is right. We support him and will not be happy with all those old generation politicians who believe that Enugu belongs to them alone, if they stop him.
“Soon, we shall come back to ask our representatives at the Senate, and those who had enjoyed ministerial slots of Enugu state to show us, in concrete terms, the dividends of democracy they brought to Enugu north. They spent their days taking care of their families while Enugu north wallowed in poverty.
“Chime has managed Enugu very well and has even been recognised by President Goodluck Jonathan with a national honour. He has been focused and has refused to be guided by those who think Enugu state is all about them. We stand here to tell them that we are fully in support of Chime and will work to make sure this decision remains the popular will of all Enugu people”, the group said.
Urging people of the state to back the governor in the current decision, like they had always backed him in the delivery of major projects, the youth group however called on politicians who may not be happy with the development, to seek opportunities in other political parties.
“We have more than 20 political parties in Nigeria. Those who think their chances have been blocked can also move on to other parties and contest for tickets. Must it be PDP alone? If you are driving and the road is blocked, won’t you reverse and find an alternative road? That is what we are saying. They should not heat up Enugu for us. We are enjoying the peace and tranquillity that Chime has brought and we stand by his choice of Ugwuanyi. Nothing could be more progressive and patriotic than this decision”, the group  added.
How I want to rescue Imo- Rep Amadi
House of Representative member and President  of Pan African Parliament,(PAP ) Hon  Bethel Amadi has declared himself the best material to rescue  Imo state .
Amadi who   represents. Mbatoli/ Ikeduru Federal Constituency in a chat with journalists claimed that the current leadership of the state was not delivering good governance . He  said,”what we have in Imo state today is a complete state of mal-administration that has set the otherwise viable state ten years backward”.
He argued “a situation where you have projects not completed for three years calls for a quick reasoning as to how the state is being administered in the last three years of its existence”.
He claimed  that the dissolution of local governments without due process and the flagrant disobedience to all known democratic tenets has made the state to remain largely a rural state.
Amadi who said he is contesting the governorship of the state under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) contended “It is in Imo state that the state chief executive goes about distributing 200 naira notes to pupils on one hand and on the other hand he suddenly dissolves the town unions that laboured for years to build same schools.
“Or how  do you explain the unique position that Imo state occupies in the South East and is largely under utilised by the present government.
“For instance, it is about one hour drive from Aba a commercial haven to Owerri and is not also far from Onitsha another commercial hub  and there is no spill over effect to Imo  till date.”
On his governorship ambition , Amadi said, “ the sensitisation exercise is at its peak and I’ve started consulting with all my political leaders because they all know that Imo state needs visionary leadership which I adequately represent”.
Speaking on terrorism as it affects the African continent, he said,” on the issue of terrorism, I believe that’s a major problem. There can be no development without peace. It’s only in an atmosphere of peace that you find any serious development going on”.
“ If you look at the North- Eastern Nigeria today, nobody can be talking about achieving Millennium Development Goals because the schools are closed, there’s no education going on for young people, there’s no medical services available. The medical facilities are all under one attack or the other”.
“There are human rights abuses in terms of people being killed by the Boko Haram, there are no economic activities going on. So, it’s only in an atmosphere of peace and security can you actually begin to talk about development. And that’s why its critical that we all work together to stamp out terrorism within our continent.
“When the terrorists took over part of Mali, the PAP was the first African- based institution to send a fact- finding mission to Mali. And today, peace has been restored to Mali and its national integrity and sovereignty has been restored. A new president has been elected in Mali under a free and fair electoral process. And incidentally, the new president was a member of PAP until his election”.
“So, we’re convinced that the process of restoring peace and security to African countries is a top priority and it should be the focus of whatever efforts are being made on the continent. And as a parliament, in our contributions, we’ve always tried  as much as possible asked that we should look at the root causes of some of these crises and address them before they become difficult to manage”.
“We’re convinced that the AU Peace and Security Commission needs to improve no their early warning system, so that we can well in advance anticipate some of those causes and be able to nip them in the bud and manage them early, instead of waiting for them to become full blown political cases before we begin to react.”

Enugu: Group backs Rep