Uwajumogu’s Specific Performances In Okigwe Zone - Part One
During the 4 years, of my representation as the member representing Ihitte-Uboma state constituency and the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, I embarked on different modules of lobbying for attention at various levels of government, as well as enacting with my colleagues, over 48 life-changing laws and over 200 motions which has direct impact in the general well-being of Okigwe zonal people in particular and the state in general.
These people-oriented laws and motions, no doubt, could be seen in the area of free and qualitative education, Community Governing Council CGC, security , contract abandonment, improved infrastructure, sustainable health system, equality and social justice, agriculture, resuscitation of moribund industries, citing of higher institutions of learning, development of new cities, urbanization of Okigwe main town, construction of rural roads, and most importantly, the four year capital development budget, which clearly enabled prudent management of funds accruing to the state.
SPECIFIC PERFORMANCES IN OKIGWE ZONE.
In the course of remaining true to the ideals of Okigwe founding fathers and in contributing my quota towards the emancipation of Okigwe zone from the age long restraints, in the area of unemployment, attraction of higher institutions of learning, extreme poverty, infrastructural decay, poor road network, insecurity and complete neglect of the zone by successive governments, jettisoned personal gains to work for the people of the area.
EDUCATION
As the leader of the second power base in the state, I wasted no time after our inauguration, to showcase my love for education by leading my colleagues towards the enactment of the legendary free education bill that guaranteed the future of our children, by making education free at all levels for Imo state indigenes. Like the Governor, I totally subscribed to the concept of using free and qualitative education as a tool for massive empowerment of the people. This is in respect of my belief that the youths and children of today needed good and qualitative education if we were to dream of tomorrow.
In Imo state today, education has come to remain a great legacy the administration of Owelle Rochas Okorocha will leave behind in time to come. I am proud, no doubt, to be associated with its successes. My legislative support facilitated the enactment of the free education Law for pupils in the primary, students in the secondary and undergraduates in tertiary institutions in Imo State. Our parents no longer pay school fees for their wards, rather, our children now receive allowances to cater for their transportation and maintenance in school, which has today paid off by rekindling the educational zeal in our children, as well as cushioning the negative effect of hawking among our young people.
In Okigwe zone, however, the benefits of some of the life changing laws and motions passed by the Imo state House of Assembly led by me, is visible. When we came into government, I saw that we (Okigwe zonal people) had missed some of the chances we had in the area of citing of higher institutions of learning and other major projects to our zone. I took the bull by the horn and with my clear understanding of the legislative instruments within my coffers, I lobbied to ensure even distribution of dividends of democracy as well as, made sure that the anomaly was corrected in other to guide against future occurrences.
Considering the high level of politics that played out in the ceding of the former Imo State University, Etiti to Abia State, and the realization that the Imo State University, Engineering Faculty, Umunna-Onuimo was becoming history, I quickly put in place a legislation that sought to establish a State owned College of Education in Okigwe zone, since Alvan Ikoku College of education has been upgraded to a Federal College of Education. His Excellency the Governor, obliged this request and subsequently, signed the bill establishing the college of education into law.
Some of my critics, who are ignorant of the processes involved in the setting up of higher institutions in the Nigerian context, have said a lot about the delay in its take-off. We are still trying to finalize issues for proper take-off with the National Commission for Colleges of Education, Abuja. By God's grace, the state government is trying hard to meet the preliminary requirements and I have donated my ultra-modern Constituency office (renovated old Etiti Mansion I inherited from my father) to the College of education, to make sure that the College takes off in good time. At the moment, Dr. Asiegbu from Ehime Mbano local Government Area, has been appointed the Provost of the College and I am working hard towards giving every support needed to make sure that the school receives its first batch/intake soon.
The upgrade of the Imo State Co-operative College, Umunakanu, Ehime Mbano in Okigwe zone to a Campus of the Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwo, which initially sparked up protests, insults and media war against my person by the host communities of the institution, who were threatened with the enactment of a law establishing other campuses out of the institution, by the Imo state House of Assembly, was another move we made in a bid to develop Okigwe zone and bring it at par with other zones of the state. We are working to upgrade Imo Polytechnic at Umuagwo to a University of Agriculture. When this come into effect, the Umunakanu Campus will become a full and independent Polytechnic. The three higher institutions we attracted, namely the College of Education, Ihitte-Uboma, The Imo- Claretian University, Umunna and Imo State Polytechnic Umunakanu Campus will in years to come, become intellectual and economic legacies that our coming generations will always cherish and bless us with.
Scholarship scheme: Apart from the free education at all levels in Imo State, which has allowed the increase in the intakes and admission of our pupils and students in all levels of our schools, I have encourage our young students by introducing what I called the “The scholarship scheme for talented children” in Ihitte/Uboma LGA. This scheme is designed to support some of our talented children for further qualitative studies. It is designed by selecting some talented pupils in primary six from the different primary schools, camped them at Madonna Science School for about three weeks, conduct exams for them and sponsor them in the Unity schools in Nigeria. Those that passed and gained admission into the Unity/Federal colleges, will have their school fees paid by me, for the period of their studies at the Federal college. This has been on since 2011 and by God's grace I shall extend the scope to all the other LGAs in Okigwe zone, starting from the next academic session.
External Examinations: Aside my Gifted Children Scholarship scheme, I have assisted more than 200 parents in Ihitte/Uboma with full cost of registration of their children's external examination, ranging from #50, #100,000 and more for WASSCE/NECO/GCE/JAMB etc.
Quiz Competition: from November 2011, a quiz competition titled “Read and Write with Rt. Hon. Ben Uwajumogu” was organized under my sponsorship, by NUT Ihitte/Uboma, NULGE Ihitte/Uboma in conjunction with Unique Concept & Films, an Educational Consultants based in Owerri, the Imo state capital. It was designed to test the intelligent capacity of our secondary school students. It was organized among the secondary schools in Ihitte/Uboma, beginning with preliminaries, quarter finals, semifinals and finals proper. About one million one hundred & fifty thousand was paid to the winners, including other consolation prizes. Apart from the instant monetary prizes, Trophies, exercise books, etc. were distributed. This programme also will be extended to students in the other LGAs of Okigwe zone beginning from the next academic session.
Higher Institutions: I have assisted many of our youths from Okigwe Zone, seeking admission into different higher institutions both in Nigeria and abroad, and equally supported them with finances to enable them settle down for studies. I have also supported different students' Associations, especially the Ihitte/Uboma Students' Association at national and different local campuses, Medical Students' Association. I have further assisted a good number of our students at the Nigerian Law School to enable them realize their ambitions.
ii.) ROAD CONSTRUCTION:
I have been able to lobby with the encouraging support of my colleagues in the house, to attract at least, 15km of asphalted roads in every local government area in the state, while using my personal funds to asphalt and grade some of the roads within communities in Okigwe zone. We are also making efforts to get work started on Agbobu, Umuowa-Ibu and many other roads that need urgent attention. I am rest assured that the plight of our people and road users around Okigwe will enjoy a new lease of life if we go to the senate, since one of the cardinal points of my blueprints is anchored on road construction.
vi) Micro Credit for women & Skill Acquisition for Youths:Recognizing the problems our women and youths face in terms of inability to access funds for small scale businesses and also lack of skills, I have put in place as part of my programme, micro-credit for women, and skill acquisition especially for young people to enable this class of our people participate in economic activities which is necessary for the reduction of the devastating effect and impact of poverty in our society.
It is a known fact that the high rate of unemployment has assumed an alarming rate in our country with its vicious impact. In my resolve to help, we shall be providing micro-credit and skill acquisition for our youths. I have also written several recommendation letters for those seeking employment in various agencies, parastatals, as well as personal companies owned by close friends and business associates across the globe. I have also generated over 400 employment opportunities to the people of Okigwe zone, both within and outside the government. In furtherance of this action, we will also help some women form Micro-Finance, Co-operative and Agricultural inputs with assistance from the Federal Ministry of Agricultural and Water Resources, Abuja.
vii) Admission to higher Institutions for Okigwe students: As it is a well-known fact that tertiary education is a major factor in human resource development for the overall development of any society, I have secured admissions for Okigwe indigenes by writing recommendation letters for our students seeking admission into various higher institutions in the state and as well, given scholarship to over 200 Okigwe indigenes.
X) SPORTS DEVELOPMENT:
During the period under review, I sponsored the Imo state “Speakers' cup” and the “Ihitte-Uboma CGC Unity CUP” Competition which I intend to make an Okigwe zonal competition, where stars will be easily identified and assisted to further develop their talents in both national and foreign clubs, as well as a recreational activity that will fill the gap of idleness among young people..
HEALTH:
Taking into cognizance, the importance of health to the people in our rural communities, during this period under review, I have been able to fully attract parts of the 27 state-of-the-arts General Hospitals which is currently undergoing several stages of completion in the zone. Before now, we had embarked on the rehabilitation of our various health centers, which hitherto remained a shadow of itself, while using my personal funds to guarantee easy access to quality healthcare to our people.. It is also on record that we also conducted several degrees of free medical services to help indigent people of the zone, who might not have the needed finances to afford quality healthcare.
EMPOWERMENT:
People of Okigwe zone today, can attest the utmost feat we have achieved in empowering our women and youths into meaningful ventures. We have ensured that a greater number of our people benefit maximally from various employment opportunities embarked upon by the state government. We further embarked on human capital development through the establishment of micro-credit schemes for the small scale businesses, training and re-training of our youths in skill acquisition, especially in the area of soap and cream making, perfumes, tie and dye, shoes and bag making, photography, computer training and repair, etc, to cushion the harmful effects of unemployment.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT:
Today, the economy of Okigwe zone could be said to have been set on the right footing, following the attraction of the ultra-modern Malaysian International market, Obowo. It should be noted that the full conceptualization of the market came on board, following a motion by the state Assembly, compelling the state government to site the market when our brothers and sisters were callously driven away from Abia state, with no viable means of economic sustainability for their different families. It is however, envisioned that in few years to come, the market, with its abundant economic potentials, would be ranked among the biggest economic hub of the South East.