Magnus Aluma
The Ebonyi State Commissioner for Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Hon. Toochukwu Uzoh, has challenged critics of the state government to show evidence of their claims of poor performance by the current administration in the state.
In a statement made available to reporters on Tuesday in Abakaliki, the commissioner said the claims by the opposition contradicted the developments across key sectors of the state, which includes education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, digital technology, workers’ welfare, youth empowerment and industrialisation.
He was reacting to comments attributed to opposition figures in the state, including Franklin Awuzie and Pascal Okechukwu, who said that Ebonyi State has retrogressed under Governor Nwifuru’s administration.
His words: “political criticism is legitimate in a democracy, but such criticism should be based on verifiable facts, policies and measurable outcomes rather than personal attacks and unsubstantiated assertions.
Governor Nwifuru’s administration has pursued its “People’s Charter of Needs” through programmes designed to improve the welfare and living conditions of workers, pensioners, youths, women and vulnerable residents.”
Uzoh further said, “Let them produce empirical evidence to substantiate their claims, that the state has been placed on ‘auto reverse gear’ under Governor Francis Nwifuru, dragging Ebonyi State backwards.
“I will mobilise our people to massively support the re-election of governor Francis Nwifuru and president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during the 2027 general election in the state.”
The commissioner also listed payment of pension and gratuity arrears, dating back to 1996, overseas scholarships for more than 1,000 Ebonyi indigenes pursuing Master’s and PhD programmes, construction of Smart Model Schools across communities and the establishment of ICT University as evidence of the government’s investment in human capital.
Others include the upgrading and equipping of healthcare facilities, recruitment of health workers, improved remuneration and welfare packages for resident doctors, as well as the enrolment of civil servants, and about 200,000 residents in the state health insurance scheme.
On infrastructure, the commissioner noted that the state government had embarked on road construction across the state, including at least two-kilometre roads in the autonomous communities, adding that more than 800 kilometres of rural and community roads had either been initiated or completed.
According to him, “government had also done several major projects, including the 23-kilometre Stadium-Nwofe Road, 19-kilometre Obvudechi-Iziogo Road with a two-span bridge, Ebonyi Ring Road, New Mile 50 Road, Court Area Okposi-Isinkwo-Okigwe Road, Okebigwe-Nwori Road, Akanu Ibiam Road, Ndibe-Nkpoghoro Road and other inter-community and feeder roads.”
Uzoh said the administration has equally invested in housing and resettlement programmes, including houses for widows and vulnerable residents, 140 housing units for civil servants and more than 400 housing units for people displaced by communal conflicts.
The commissioner said the state’s digital transformation drive has seen the deployment of fibre-optic infrastructure across the capital city and other areas, provision of free internet services for students and public offices, and training and certification of more than 2,000 Ebony people in advanced ICT skills.
He further disclosed that the government has intensified its industrialisation programme through the revitalisation of the pipe production, hatchery and fertiliser factories, while construction of the Ebonyi State Industrial City at Izhiangbo, Ohaukwu Local Government Area, was designed to provide a major hub for manufacturing, technology, logistics and export activities.
On agriculture and youth empowerment, Uzoh said 200 Ebonyi youths trained at Gora, in Nasarawa State, received N5 million each, representing a N1billion intervention,
as start-up capital.
He explained that 300 youths were also trained in rice production, fishery, poultry, piggery and other agro-based, enterprises, adding that they were empowered with N3 million each, while 500 of them, received N2 million business grants and another 1,500 youths who were given N1 million each to support their businesses.
The commissioner maintained that the programmes were designed by government, to combine skills, capital and opportunity to create sustainable livelihood, adding that Governor Nwifuru’s administration would remain focused on its development agenda.
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