Ezea assured that his tenure would give a sense of ownership to every person in the Enugu North zone.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Senator Okey Ezea (Enugu North) has stressed the importance of unity of purpose to bring about development-oriented politics in the zone.
Ezea, who spoke during a thanksgiving service held at St. Teresa’s Catholic Cathedral, Nsukka, over the weekend to mark his first year of election into the National Assembly, called on the people to eschew private goals and aspire for the common good, vowing that he would not abandon the mandate given to him by the people.
The thanksgiving service was attended by many dignitaries from across the country, among whom were the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election in Enugu State, Chijioke Edeoga; Senate Minority Leader, Senator Abba Moro who represented the minority caucus in the Senate, and Senate Minority Whip, Senator Osita Ngwu.
Others were Senator Kelvin Chukwu, Senator Chuka Utazi, Nnia Nwodo, Chidi Obetta, Martins Oke, Cyriacus Umeha, Denis Agbo, Chancellor of Maduka University, Samuel Onyishi; Onyemuche Nnamani, Major Gen. Chris Eze, Major Gen. Victor Ezeugwu, Prof Osita Ogbu and Dan Shere.
Ezea admitted that his victory at the polls was not because he was either the richest or the most politically connected, and stressed that his election marked the first time in over three decades that the votes of the people were allowed to count in any election in Enugu State.
While recognising the high expectations from the people in bringing development to the zone, he expressed his commitment to do all that was possible to improve the quality of life of the people.
“Many people worked hard for my victory and are possibly expecting rewards, but what reward is greater than the ways we’re creating to make life easier and happier for everyone in our zone,” he said, adding that his job as a legislator was not the same as those of president and governors who have executive powers.
Listing his achievements in the nine months since he has been in the National Assembly, Senator Ezea said he has worked with other legislators elected from the zone to mitigate the incidents of marginalisation of the Enugu North Senatorial District in the distribution of federal appointments and projects.
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He said, “As you know, my interactions with my colleagues in the National Assembly, with many ministries, departments, and agencies of the federal government have started to produce good fruit. This is evident in the ongoing reconstruction of the dilapidated Makurdi–Obollo–Opi– Ninth Mile expressway which has lately been in the news.
“Those who have visited Ninth Mile and Makurdi recently know that something has already started happening on the road and I am reliably informed by the federal authorities that, in a few weeks, work on that highway will gather steam at several points.
“I have not stopped pestering the Federal Ministry of Works and China Harbour Engineering Ltd, the contractors handling the project, to whom the minister, HE Engr. Dave Umahi, has since introduced to me.”
Continuing on his accomplishments, the senator said; “The ongoing three rural road projects at Uzo-Uwani which I inherited from Sen. Chukwuka Utazi is moving on smoothly. Granted, the roads were attracted during the 9th Senate to which Sen. Utazi was a member; however, because of the nature of our budgeting system that ensures that budget implementation takes place in the succeeding year, the actual award of the projects took place last November, five clear months after my inauguration in June last year.
“It took collaborative efforts between me and Senator Utazi to ensure that the projects were not diverted after the dissolution of the 9th Assembly.”
He also said he was working with the National Orthopaedic Hospital, Enugu, to establish an annex of the specialist hospital at Aku, in Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State adding that construction works at the site of the annex would commence soon.
In the 2024 fiscal year, he said he would see to the construction and installation of solar-powered boreholes in several communities in the zone, adding that solar street lights will also be installed in the University of Nigeria Nsukka as well as other communities across the senatorial district.
Ezea assured that his tenure would give a sense of ownership to every person in the Enugu North zone, stressing that the era of leaders abdicating their responsibilities to the people soon after elections was over.
The lawmaker also vowed that he would work in union with the political and business elite from the zone to revive the think-tanks that served as platforms for the aggregation of development ideas and engagement of the people, adding that the move would serve as a rallying point towards uniting the entire Nsukka people socially and economically.