Immediate past senator representing Imo North senatorial district in the National Assembly, Chief Sylvester Anyanwu has accused Gov. Rochas Okorocha of inflicting untold poverty to the people of the state.
Anyanwu who stated this while addressing Presidents-General and women leaders of the Association of Imo state Indigenous Town Unions from the 27 local government areas of the state at Owerri, alleged that poverty now walks on four legs in the state because of what he described as the anti people policies of the Okorocha administration.
“Poverty has become the lot of the Imo people. Poverty now abounds in Imo. The local government system is not working. Contracts which the state is supposed to give to its citizen so that the money will circulate within, is now being given to foreigners. School uniform is being sewn in China when tailors in Imo state have job to do. If these tailors get the contract to sew school uniforms, the money will circulate in the state, but the governor prefers foreign contractors who are mobilized 100%.
“In Amaraku, Anara and others areas, more than 2000 shops have been destroyed by Gov. Okorocha on the excuse that he is building roundabouts. What is the economic value of these roundabouts when you destroy places from where people feed their families? I am yet to understand how roundabouts will put food on the tables of the people.
Development should have a human face, because you cannot develop a town for the dead. It is only for the living. We have a serious problem at hand in Imo state and nobody wants to talk while one person is destroying the integrity of the Imo man.”
The former lawmaker also took a swipe on the governor for its many controversial policies which he said have brought disunity to the grassroots.
“How can a governor say he is running a fourth tier government which is clearly unconstitutional? Fourth tier government is illegal. Okorocha has destroyed the basic structures through which
Imo people are known. Education is the biggest industry of the Imo man, but it is unfortunate that he is deceiving the people by claiming to run free education in the state. For some years, Imo state has been under one form of experiment or the other and the present administration is the height of these experiments. “
Anyanwu called on Okorocha to emulate the vision of the second republic governor of old Imo state, Chief Sam Mbakwe who he said brought governance more nearer to the people with his grassroot oriented programmes.
“Mbakwe was governor for only four years but he built industries in every local government in the Old Imo state. Mbakwe built the Ehime Tile factory, Resin paints, Cupboard factory, Aluminium Extrusion industry, Inyishi, Imo Modern poultry, among others. These industries employed more than 30,000 persons. Why can’t they be revived? We have oil in Ohaji/ Egbema and Oguta councils, why can’t we have refinery in the area to create jobs and expand the economy of the state?”
