I will attract, deploy resources to improve my people’s welfare - Onu
Prince Nweze Onu is the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senatorial Candidate for Ebonyi South Senatorial District. Prince Onu is a veteran journalist, a policy maker and a strategist. In this interview with Businessday, he bares his mind on why he seeks to represent his people in Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber, the Nigerian Senate. He also talks about the measures he intends to adopt to ensure the enhancement of the experiences of his constituents. Excerpts.
Good afternoon Prince
Prince: Good afternoon. How are you people in the media doing?
Very well Sir. We learnt you are interested in representing your people, the people of Ebonyi South, in Nigeria’s upper legislative chamber (the Senate) starting from May 2019.
That is correct.
Can you tell us your motivation for desiring to go to the Nigerian Senate.
Before I answer your question, it is important to set the background to make for better understanding. I have been a policy analyst and strategist for over a decade. I have worked with many governments in the past to formulate policies and programmes that will enhance the life of the people. From my experiences working with various governments, I realised the importance of getting involved with the process of policy formulation and implementation to make government work for the people. That is one critical background I have that will enhance the quality of my representation.
In addition to my experiences in policy making, I have also worked with a lot of organisations to implement strategies that reshaped and repositioned their operations to enable them achieve targeted results in line with their immediate and longterm objectives. Now this is just a summary of my experiences.
Now to your question. My motivation for going seeking to represent my people at the red chambers is fuelled by my desire to continue with the works of Distinguished Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, who has set the ball rolling. He has played his part and now wants to bring his experiences to bear on the affairs of Ebonyi State as the State Governor.
So what will be the main focus of your tenure as a representative of your people.
As you already know, the main focus will be sponsoring and ensuring the passage of bills that will guarantee the welfare of my people and the generality of Nigerians. Like I have always mentioned at the various for a that I have spoken, education is the critical aspect of any developmental efforts. I’m so much sold on this conviction and because of this, I will prioritize education in delivering the goods of representation.
However, I will also strive to attract and deploy resources that will fundamentally improve eight critical areas for the welfare of my people. These areas include health, agriculture, women and youth empowerment, power supply, and integrated skills acquisition.
Can you throw more light on the specific issues you will address in each of these ‘critical’ areas you have identified?
Thank you very much for your germane question. In the area of education, I will ensure that the science laboratories of all the secondary schools in my zone are equipped with modern equipment. I will work with my state governor to ensure effective use of the equipment through the recruitment of qualified science teachers to handle the equipment so that the objectives for which they were procured are achieved.
I will also build and furnish libraries in all the clans that make up the senatorial district to ensure that the students have access to the books and other education materials they need at all times.
In the area of agriculture, I will set up an agency that will work with agro input suppliers to provide modern farming inputs and improved seed variety at no cost to our farmers. By this I mean that the input, from improved seedlings to pesticides, herbicides, will be given to the farmers freely; they will not pay for it.
Can you talk about what you will do in the area of health.
Yes! I’m aware of the difficulties that some of our women encounter during pregnancy. Often, some of them are so indigent that they don’t have money for anteor post-natal care. So in addition to identifying strategic hospitals to be equipped with modern facilities, I will set up offices in strategic locations across the zone to ensure that indigent pregnant women are identified and properly assisted. I will provide stock of drugs for the primary healthcare centres across the zone. I have already identified and commenced discussions with a number of organisations that have agreed to provide quality healthcare in these facilities. These are the sorts of service that I will render to my people.
And for the youths . . . .
Yes, the youths and women. Don’t forget that the youth are the key determinants of the future of any society. I know this, and that is why I will set up two multisector artisanal skills acquisition centres in each of the five local government areas that make up Ebonyi South Senatorial District. Here, the youths (and the women) will be trained in artisan skills such as tiling, furniture making, roofing, electrification, and others.
These crafts are presently handled by the Togolese, Beninese, and the Ghanaians. Nigerians lose a lot of money in these areas because while our youths are roaming the streets because they don’t have skills that they could usefully deploy, these foreigners take up the jobs and eventually repatriate
the money to their respective countries.
You know the role Small and Medium Enterprises (SMES) play in the growth and wellbeing of an economy. SME’S are the biggest employers of labour in any economy. Hence, I will work with two microfinance banks that I have already commenced discussions with, for the provision of seed capital to women and beneficiaries of skills acquisition trainings. I am convinced that this measure will accelerate the growth of SMES in the zone.
In addition, I will use my position to explore all avenues to ensure that the hitherto unemployed youths are gainfully employed. That is the mandate we have, and we will deliver on it.
Are your people aware of these plans you have for them?
Yes, they are. We have been going round the zone, preaching this message of service to them. And the reception has been awesome. They tell us that what we are preaching is the kind of message they have been yearning for.
Does that mean they will vote for . . . .
(interjects) They will vote for me. The message resonates with them, and many of them have become the evangelists of this message.
What edge do you think you have over your opponents
The edge I have over my opponents is simple – my people have accepted my message of service; they have owned the message; they are propagating the message; and they are already chanting victory songs for me. They are not doing this for any of my opponents. So you will be correct if you say there are no opponents.
‘ The edge I have over my opponents is simple – my people have accepted my message of service; they have owned the message; they are propagating the message; and they are already chanting victory songs for me. They are not doing this for any of my opponents ‘
Do you have any final words for your people.
My final words for my people are simple: I appreciate the love you have already shown to me. Continue to evangelise the message of service that we bring so that our prosperity will increase.
Prince Thank you very much for accommodating us in your already busy schedule. We wish you a successful outing at the polls.
You are most welcome. And thank you for hosting me.