Rt. Hon. Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Enugu State Governor |
The governor,
an immediate past Chairman of House of Representatives Committee on Marine
Transport, made this pledge at the 2015 Award Night of the Correspondents
Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Enugu State Council last
Friday.
Gburugburu,
as the governor is popularly known as, who was ably represented by the
Commissioner for Enugu Capital Development, Mr. Chidi Aroh, assured
journalists that the welfare of the people was paramount in the state, adding
that the recent suspension of levies on traffic offenders in Enugu was to
alleviate the suffering of the motoring public in the hands of the task-force.
Chief
Ugwuanyi, who was a PDP Chairmanship aspirant in Udenu LGA in the year 2003, said
that he had within the five months of his administration awarded road contracts
at over N20 billion meant for the construction and rehabilitation of five roads
in the state, which would start in November. He also promised his
administration’s respect for the right of journalists to information.
In his own
words: "We are transparent and support the
anti-corruption drive of the Federal Government. As journalists, you must
realise that your responsibilities are akin to the one God gave to judges. You
are under obligation because you have to inform the people what government
does. Be guided by your conscience.”
According to
the governor, who is an erstwhile President of Rotary Club of Emene, his
administration will be thrifty in the management of state’s resources. He advised
journalists to continue to partner with his government, stressing that the
report on the chapel’s tour of the council areas in the state would assist his
government to further develop the hinterlands.
In his
speech, the Chairman of the Correspondents chapel, Mr. Petrus Obi, stated
that the ceremony was to honour individuals who had made outstanding achievements
in their chosen careers, adding that of particular significance was the award
presented to some chairmen of local councils in the state.
According to
him, the chapel had, as part of the press week, embarked on projects tour of
the 17 local government areas of the state to substantiate their development
claims. He revealed that the findings from the tour were baffling as it exposed
the hypocrisy of some chairmen who had nothing to show for the number of years
they had been in power.
In Mr. Obi’s
words: "Of particular mention is Igbo-Etiti Local
Government Area where the chairman claimed to have invested millions of naira
in poultry farm but when we got there, we discovered that the claims were all
deception. Some of the local government chairmen threatened us not to come to
their council but as journalists we were not deterred.”
According to
him, just few of the chairmen made lasting impacts on the lives of their
subjects and that such achievements were published in a magazine to be launched
during the event.
No comments:
Post a Comment