Raymond Ozoji, Awka

Former commissioner for environment during Peter Obi’s administration, Chief Ifedi Okwenna, has assured Anambra citizens that if elected governor in the forthcoming gubernatorial polls slated for next year, his government will place more emphasis on agriculture and industrialisation.

Okwenna gave the assurance at a news briefing in Awka yesterday while presenting his development agenda to citizens of the state. Although he pointed out that he would adopt a multi-sectoral approach to ensure that every sector of the economy was touched, he emphasized that his administration would place greater premium on agricultural production and industrialisation.

He said Anambra state has all it takes to blaze the trail in sustainable development but observed that what was needed was a focused leadership and an enabling environment for citizens to thrive and succeed in their endeavours.

Okwenna noted that agrarian areas like Ayamelum, Anambra-East and West, Ogbaru and some others needed to be developed for real time agricultural production to guarantee food sufficiency and food security. He said he has come to revamp as well as revitalize the state economy to create wealth and employment opportunities for the generality of the people.

Although he observed that the greatest opponent of the Peoples Democratic Party in Anambra was the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, he maintained that if given the party’s mandate, he would win the election and occupy the government house to enable him to address developmental setbacks in the state.

Okwenna said, “PDP must sack APGA because they have wasted our time for too long. Anambra people do not want such leaders. PDP has all it takes to win the governorship election. PDP can not be a big political party without producing the next governor of this state. Anambra needs a rebirth and only PDP can make that happen.”

He however stated that he was not new to the terrain because he has been in the state working and serving in various capacities and knows the state well enough to provide people-oriented governance with emphasis on grassroot development through agriculture and industrialisation.