The Director General, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, at the weekend in Enugu said that the need to quickly address the abject poverty facing his people inspired him to run for the Enugu West Senatorial District in 2019.
Okechukwu, also criticized the Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, for allegedly using the last three years to fight President Muhammadu Buhari, rather than attract development projects to Enugu West senatorial district.
Addressing APC delegates in Awgu, Okechukwu, who is eying Ekweremadu’s seat in the Senate said: “What inspired me to run for Senate is that I know how poor I am and how poor my constituency is. Enugu state has at least, 10 higher institutions and they produce over 2,000 graduates every year and there are no jobs. That is why we migrate to South Africa and they kill us.”
Okechukwu further stated that his undying desire to revamp the abundant coal deposits in Enugu State to tackle the huge unemployment challenge among youths was another key factor that pushed him into the senatorial contest.
He told the APC delegates: “When Professor Barth Nnaji was Minister of Power, we started the journey to revamp Enugu Coal. He set aside five Coal fields and designated them for Coal to Power, so as to generate 1,000 megawatts. We continued with Professor Nebo. It’s been six good years talk about coal. They said it was no longer in vogue. Yet, it produces 80 percent of electricity in India and 65 percent of electricity in South Africa.”
According to him, “When Buhari came, we persisted. Methinks as a senator one will actualise the objective of revamping Enugu Coal to generate electricity and provide employment to thousands of youths.”
Urging the Awgu delegates to support him in his senatorial bid, the VON boss noted that with this modest appointment, he registered cooperatives, with 10 beneficiaries per ward in Enugu West.
