Abai State governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Prof Gregory Ibe, has picked holes in the manner the State has been administered over the years, promising to reposition it for greater attainment if elected in 2023.
Prof Ibe, the Founder and Chancellor of Gregory University Uturu, made the declaration at the weekend, when he featured as guest on the Zoom interactive session of the Abia Media Forum (AMF), an influential assemblage of top journalists of Abia extraction.
Abia leaders of thought and those seeking leadership positions aspire to feature on the AMF platform, due largely to its global reach and non-partisanship.
At such sessions, guests are given the opportunity to espouse their vision and programme for the State, with added advantage of wide publicity thereafter.
Thus for nearly two hours on Saturday, the professor of Entrepreneurial Studies fielded questions drawing snippets from his manifesto, ahead of its official unveiling to the public.
He covered such broad areas as education, manpower development, infrastructure, healthcare and security, shrugging off the likelihood of being a lackey to any political godfather.
“I am not coming into the system on the back of anybody godfather, to deny Abians their right. Nobody is propping me up,” he said, adding: “None of the persons aspiring to lead Abia is better placed than me.”
On his reasons for seeking the office of governor, Ibe lamented that the State had been abandoned, with nothing to write home about hence he decided to embark on the redemptive journey.
He said: “At 58, my family and I are accomplished already. So there’s nothing else I want to do than to serve my people, which is why I am offering myself for service as governor of Abia State,” he said.
To make a difference, and stand out among those who have previously ruled Abia, Ibe said he would decentralize governance of the State to ensure that no community if left out. That bit, he continued, would be achieved through the local government system, the administrative hub he plans to strengthen.
Looking back, Ibe said: “I have experienced lack, and know exactly how it feels not to have. Therefore, I will not allow any Abia child or citizen to wallow in lack. “The impact of my government will be felt equally in all parts of the State,” he assured.
To underscore the fact that he does not nurse any agenda of personal aggrandizement, Ibe narrated how he had committed his resources in the service of Abia State without expecting or getting a pat on the back.
On education, Ibe said: “My programme in education is well cut out for Abia State.
“Mark you I am the highest employer of labour in the State. As we speak I have more than one thousand academic and non-academic staff, as well as students numbering over 3,000.
“I advised Abia State government on the way forward for its tertiary institutions but they didn’t heed my advice. They converted Abia State Polytechnic to a university, but up till now it hasn’t received the approval of to National Assembly; they made the Abia State College of Education Technical Arochukwu (ASCETA) a university, yet nothing is happening there; they also made the College of Health Sciences Aba a university but nothing has happened there as well.
“I advised the government to review its curriculum in the light of global manpower needs, and make graduates from the State’s institutions globally competitive.”
Professor Ibe said he was not deterred by the State government’s refusal to heed his wise counsel on education hence he established his own university – Gregory University Uturu – which offers 62 accredited courses, to bridge the gap in education in the State.
Ibe further lamented that Abia State University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH) has lost its accreditation for medicine, “but ours at Gregory University is still on.”
Nonetheless, Ibe said: “I have assisted ABSU and Abia Poly in many ways.
“I advised Delta State government and they established three Polytechnics; today those tertiary institutions have been upgraded into universities, and they are getting money from TETFUND to run them.”
On healthcare, Prof Ibe said he had requested the government to give him land to build a 1, 000-bed teaching hospital in the State, but they refused.
“In 2003 they asked me for money to complete ABSUTH in Aba; I wired N160 million to help complete the project before the institution got the accreditation for medicine. Up until this moment, the government of Abia State is still indebted to me.
“I have upgraded the Amachara Hospital in Umuahia. At the FMC Umuahia I am building hostels there to accommodate our clinical scholars. We have lost accreditation for medicine at ABSUTH, but ours at Gregory University is still on.
Besides, Ibe said it is on record that he had been providing free medical services including surgeries to residents of the State.
“I invested hugely during the COVID-19 pandemic, to the extent that I expected the governor to write a personal letter thanking me, but he never did. Now I am building the 1,000 bed teaching hospital at Ezinnachi, along the expressway.”
On insecurity, which recently morphed into a major issue in the State, Prof Ibe said he has what it takes to address the situation, and give Abians the sense of security they deserve.
He said: “With the amount of investment I have in Abia (especially in the Isuikwuato-Uturu axis), it is of concern to me that any road leading to Uturu should be completely protected, because I am also into security business.
On opposition, Ibe said he is the most qualified among the candidates seeking to be governor in 2023.
“In fact, none of my opponents in the 2023 election has my kind of pedigree. First, none of them has the level of investment I have in Abia State,” Ibe declared, arguing that it would be wrong to compare him with any of his opponents in the coming contest, “and they know it.”
According to him, doing so would be tantamount to comparing apples with oranges, saying he is way ahead of the rest.
Finally, Ibe expressed preparedness “to enter into a covenant with your group (AMF), on behalf of Abians, if I fail to do what I am saying I would do.”