2023 presidency: I’ll declare my ambition in April, says Ngige

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said he will declare his presidential ambition in April.

Ngige, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), stated this in Awka, Anambra state capital, during the empowerment of some graduate trainees in the state.

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Some beneficiaries of the empowerment had asked Ngige to join the 2023 presidential race without further delay.

Describing the former Anambra State governor as a man of the people who had shown demonstrable effectiveness in leadership, the beneficiaries, mostly women, said he was fit for the role.

Responding, Ngige said his Easter terminal date for consultation has not expired and urged the people to give him up to Easter to declare .

“Easter is not too far away. It is two months away. Easter is in April. So, let us be patient. By Easter, we shall have something like this (empowerment) again and we shall talk.”

According to Ngige the empowerment was phase II in the series for those who would use the items allotted to them to further their businesses.

“The generators here will help those who have barbing salon to increase the number of barbing salon they have. If you have one, you are starting a second one now. The women here who are also hairdressers, the generators will also help you in starting the second branch of your hair salon; even if you’re going to combine with another person so that you can share the profits.

“This generator will make you an investor and an entrepreneur. That is empowerment. Many people misunderstand empowerment. It is not a dash for you to go and carry the material and sell. If you sell any of these items, we will arrest you. You must use it to create further employment. It is a job creation programme.

“For the women again, you can see your grinders, industrial grinders called threshers. They are here for you. You will grind times 10 of whatever you have been doing before with these big ones. You will use them to earn a living.

“We do not want to discourage farmers. There are water pumps there to suck water from streams or rivers to irrigate your farms, mild irrigation especially vegetable producers. Most of the women produce vegetables that they sell.

“When women make money, they use it to buy food and other important things for their children. But when men make money, sometimes they may spend it at the beer palour but you spend your own at home. So, the water pumping machines are for mild irrigation, small scale agriculture. You use it to suck out water from the water reservoir into your farms.We have other things here but these bags of rice here are my own personal donation,” Ngige stated.