Anambra poll: Why Ngige wants the job

BY ROBERT OBIOHA
As the race to the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State gains momentum, all the INEC-approved candidates are leaving no stone unturned in convincing the electorate that they are indeed the best men for the job of governing the state. The Anambra poll is going to be one of the keenly contested gubernatorial polls in the annals of the country if the heat generated by the campaign, so far, is anything to go by.
The major political parties to watch are the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) represented by Chief Willie Obiano, the All Progressives Congress (APC) represented by Senator Chris Ngige, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) represented by Chief Nicholas Ukachukwu, the Labour Party (LP) represented by Chief Ifeanyi Patrick Ubah and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) represented by Chief Godwin Ezeemo.
The candidates of these hottest parties in town are busy showcasing their agenda for the good people of Anambra State. Such election promises are not new in Nigeria. What might be new is their faithful implementation. As the politicians are promising even what they could not accomplish, the electorate has become wiser and sophisticated. The voters can no longer be deceived as was the case before. The voters should not hesitate to ask the politicians how they intend to fulfill their electoral promises.
One of the candidates, who had unveiled his manifesto to the people, is Senator Chris Ngige, a medical doctor and former governor of the state. The man popularly called Onwa (the moon) is anchoring his campaign on the aphorism that the moon will shine again (onwa ga eti ozo), meaning that the moon has shone before, an apparent reference to his three years of governorship of the state before Peter Obi dislodged him from the position through the instrumentality of the courts. Obi’s court case has now become a legend that it is not necessary to be recounted in this article. During the three years of Ngige’s rule, he truly demonstrated that governance can work. He distinguished himself in the area of road construction, a legacy Obi has raised to a higher level.
Ngige’s vision for the state is that of building an Anambra State that would truly be “The Light of the Nation” in her human capital, natural resources and material development. His mission this time around is to continue, and finish, the work he previously started of building an Anambra State where government exists to work for the people; impact their lives in positive ways; lift and enhance the conditions and environments of their living; give hope and succour to the poor and provide security of lives and property for all, and create conducive and enabling environment for businesses to thrive in.
Ngige believed much on experience. If experience is anything to go by, Ngige is the man for the job. In fact, he is seemingly the best experienced candidate among the lot in terms of governance. He was a governor before from 2003-2006. He knew how governance works at state and national levels. Before his foray into politics, Ngige has been a civil servant and retired as Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Health after 18 long years of distinguished service. Currently, Ngige is a serving senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as well as a member of the national caucus of the party. Before going to ACN, Ngige was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He had also held many posts including Protem Zonal Publicity Secretary, the Assistant National Secretary and Member of the National executive Committee (NEC) and Assistant National Zonal Secretary (SouthEast) before being elected as executive governor of Anambra State in 2003.
Ngige is also a seasoned administrator and a great manager of men and materials. This, he demonstrated in his three-year rule of the state when he opened up the state with his now legendary network of roads that transverse the length and breadth of the state. He claims that all the roads he constructed during his tenure have continued to showcase their international and good standard by their durability more than six years after their construction. Before going into politics fulltime, Ngige tried his hand in business. His successful businesses include Ponsel Nigeria Limited, Pinkine Laboratories Limited, Chriseve Clinics and others. He was also a Foundation Sole Administrator of Aka Ikenga, Lagos, an Igbo socio-cultural think-tank.
Ngige has laudable dream for education in Anambra State. He promises to provide affordable education with free primary school education, free secondary school education, 50% reduction in school fees in Anmabra State University (ANSU) and scholarships for deserving Anambra State students in tertiary institutions as well as bursary awards for Anambra students in tertiary institutions. He will continue to hand over schools to missions and reverse brain drain through academic research in science and technology development. His other core areas of development include healthcare, transportation, agriculture, electricity and power supply, water supply, housing and environment, welfare of workers and elected third tier of government, infrastructure development, youths and sports development.
Ngige would also ensure security of lives and property and he intends to achieve this by using experienced hands and modern gadgets to reduce and control crimes. Ngige is on the second missionary journey to complete his blue-print, which he did 33% before leaving government house. He wants the electorate to offer him the second chance to complete the remaining 67%.
The man that will help Ngige do all these is no other than Hon. Ralph Udenze Okeke from Anam in Anambra West Local Government Area. Okeke, a graduate of Public Administration from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, has had a distinguished career in the private sector.
On the issue of zoning, Ngige explained that sharing of political offices in the state has never been zoned before. He illustrated this and affirmed that former Nigerian President and Owelle of Onitsha, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was also former Premier of Eastern Region, former administrator of East Central State, Ukpabi Asika and former Senate President, Dr Chuba Okadigbo were all from Anambra North. Ngige cannot see why zoning has become an issue now. Ngige wants the electorate to vote for him come November 16.