A former Commissioner in Abia State and an elder statesman, Chief Charles Ogbonnaya, hascanvassed massive support for the South East Development Commission (SEDC), as it will address the degradation in the area and also stand as a catalyst towards the rebuilding of the entireregion.
He said the Commission which bill was sponsored by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu and recently passed by the House was the first concrete effort to address the degradation in the southeast occasioned by the civil war.
Chief Charles Ogbonnaya
In an interview with journalists in Umuahia, Chief Ogbonnaya expressed disappointment that both governors and other political leaders in the region were not showing enough support towards the take off of the commission.
According to him, given the developmental challenges in the Southeast, especially in road infrastructure, the commission was needed for the rapid improvement in development.
He noted that the philosophy of the commission was in tandem with Late Dr Michael Okpara’s developmental agenda encapsulated on prime document establishing Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation (ENDC).
The elder statesman stressed that under Okpara ‘s ENDC, cocoa farms,rubber and palm plantations were established and run by the government.
He also listed Metropolitan Hotel at Calabar,Presidential Hotels in Enugu and Portharcourt, as well as,Golden Guinea Breweries and Ceramics factory in Umuahia, as other industries set up by Dr Okpara under ENDC.
Chief Ogbonnaya argued that the support of the political leaders in the Southeast was necessary to drive the commission through the intervention of the Federal government.
According to him, the Deputy Speaker was proactive in sponsoring the bill given the level of infrastructural decay in the Southeast since after the war.
Chief Ogbonnaya said a synergy was now necessary to ensure that the Federal Government in collaboration with the states in the South East,fund the rebuilding of the infrastructure in the region.
” I believe that Hon Benjamin Kalu has presented us a golden opportunity to rebuild the Southeast which was ravaged by the civil war. I believe all of us have to come together to make it possible by putting pressure on the federal government to do the needful”, he said.
The former Abia commissioner further stressed the need for massive support for the commission in view of the much expected developmental programme before it.
