The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Barr Sly Ezeokenwa says it is the vision of APGA under his leadership, to scale its successes story in Anambra to other parts of the country, to begin to provide solutions to the myriads of socio-political and economic woes of the nation.
Ezeokenwa made this known over the weekend during a chat with members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Anambra State Chapter Council, at the APGA Regional Headquarters in Awka.
The APGA National Chairman, who noted that Anambra under APGA, has since 2006 maintained a steady climb upwards in terms of all indices of good governance and every facet of development, placing the state well ahead of its peers.
According to him, if Anambra has been able to achieve this and maintain steady development, there is no reason why Nigeria cannot scale what APGA is doing at the national level.
“Over the years, Nigeria has gone down in terms of all the indices of governance and development while Anambra as a state has moved ahead in these directions.
“It only makes common sense that when you are doing something and not succeeding, that you try something else, especially when that thing has been tested and proven to be result-oriented.
“So, under my watch, we would offering APGA as a credible alternative to Nigeria’s socio-economic and political woes, with the hope that Nigerians who are tired of the old order that has fared them no better, can embrace it and begin to change their fortunes,” he said.
Ezeokenwa said the simplicity and sincerity of the APGA leadership at all levels makes it possible for public office holders elected on their platform, to deliver on the promises they made to the electorate during the campaigns.
This he said, is in contrast with what obtains in other major political parties, “where the demands and greed of party hierarchy make it impossible for elected public office holders to deliver anything good for the people.
“From the primary elections that produce these politicians and down to the main elections, they enter into huge debt as a result of the heavy demands of the party hierarchy on them and when they get into power, they hardly have enough to deploy in providing for the welfare of those who elected them.
“The sincerity of successive APGA leaderships has been responsible for the absence of excessive luggages that make it impossible for elected officials to perform and deliver on their mandate.
“We have seen it in Anambra, where we have Governors who delivered consistently.
“Even in Imo, a former governor elected under APGA was the best governor as at the time because he had the free hand to perform.
“Eventually, when he defected to another political party, he derailed because of the excess luggages he inherited from the party and from them, it was a downward slope out of relevance until he left office.
“I have made a priority, that if that is what I accomplish as National Chairman, to have credible primary elections where the candidates emerge without having to pay through their nose to get the blessings of the leadership of the party, then I would have succeeded,” he said.
Ezeokenwa noted that the greatest model APGA is giving to Nigerians is Governor Chukwuma Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, who he said, has exemplified good governance in the very short time he had lasted in office.
“The greatest model APGA has presented Nigerians is Governor Chukwuma Soludo. The policies and initiatives he is adopting are purely people-oriented, aimed at bridging the gap between the rich and the poor, be it in education, health, youths empowerment, roads infrastructure or anything..
“APGA represents progressivism, love for one another. APGA is all about the people and that is what Soludo is exemplifying across all sectors.
“The money Anambra is getting from the Federation’s account is nothing to write home about, yet the governor is doing wonders for the people.
“We know that in Nigeria, 80 to 90 percent of the problems are caused by the ruling class but the brunt of the problems is borne by 95 percent of the poor masses. But here is a governor who has opted to take the sides of the masses and living out the true meaning of his promise,” Ezeokenwa posited.
He extolled the Anambra State Council of the NUJ for mapping out a particular time of the year to celebrate Journalists and their activities in the State, noting that such exercise would foster cohesion and enhance professionalism for the journalists, especially in these days when junk journalism is trending with untrained citizen journalists who tend to override the core professional journalists.
He decried the trend of fake news and sensational reportage circulating online, pointing out that the traditional media practitioners should as a matter of urgency drive the social media in terms of strict adherence to the ethics of the profession and called for training and retraining of journalists to avoid infringements on other people’s rights on the altar of exercising the freedom of information and expression.
