Anambra 2021: Olih, Rep enter Guber race

From Chuks Moses, Awka
As the countdown to the Anambra 2021 governorship election begins in earnest, more aspirants, especially from the South and Central Senatorial Districts continue to emerge.
The latest is Mr Okwudili TobeOlisa Olih, a professional accountant and businessman. A member of the House of Representatives from the Central Senatorial District is also been tipped
Their entry into the race to replace the incumbent Gov Willie Obiano appears to be distorting all the previous political calculations and permutations. It was revealed that virtually all the key political parties including the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are after Olih, but he has kept his party of choice very close to his chest.
A campaign brochure of the aspirant, which is circulating in aming a select audience, but which this reporter saw, reads: “As a home grown son, his key cardinal focus showed he would be close to the people. That he will revolutionise agriculture to produce enough to feed the state and for export. He noted that more than ninety percent of the state’s land mass is arable and suitable for all-year-round farming and animal husbandry. Our subsistent farmers will be systematically modernized to increase their food output. This will be done with equal development of agricultural value chain in each crop line. We shall arrange both local and foreign off-takers to buy off all excess produce. Farm inputs, irrigation methods, high yielding crops, fertilizers, pest control methods and tractors would be made readily available especially within the farming cluster areas. Storage facilities, including  silos would be built as farmers would be supported, assisted and celebrate.
He added also that since modern economy is knowledge-driven, there shall be compulsory free quality primary school education in the new Anambra.
Olih said further: “Secondary and vocational schools shall be equally ranked, and must be of very high standard and made to be viable to feed the industries in Anambra. Skills acquired in our vocational, secondary and tertiary institutions shall be internationally certified to be acceptable anywhere in the world. The demands of our local industries shall per time determine the vocational industrial skills to be promoted by the government.
“A sound conducive environment is necessary for a healthy productive life. Orderliness and cleanliness shall be the defining principle of the new Anambra environment. Urban planning and urban renewal will be vigorously pursued to transform the way we live and work. Every local government/community must have a developmental masterplan that agrees to the wishes and aspirations of the people in conjunction with the ecosystem. Green and recreational parks will feature prominently in every of our community planning. This will be managed by an agency specially set up for that purpose.
“Gully erosion that has been ravaging several parts of Anambra state will be vigorously controlled by geophysical mapping and detailed co-ordinated channeling of floods all over the state. A new realistic and workable environmental protection and preservation policy shall be pursued. Each dwelling and office premises must provide flood catchment pits, grass lawns as part receptacle of rain waters. Total concreting of floors and premises must be outlawed in order to save our ecosystem.
“The entire topography of the state will be taken into account to find an enduring solution to the menace.
“I shall be accountable to my generation, to my children’s generation even to the fourth generation. I am a strong advocate of Leadership by shared vision, the collective vision of all Anambra people. So, we must hand over Anambra state better than we met it, and prepare the coming generation to perform better than us. We shall lead by example, be the light while we can and leave such a legacy that anything below it will no longer be acceptable to Anambra people. Needs of the citizens must be prioritized.
“This will be first government to be called The Best Friend of Anambra People. The reason is simple; every program of my administration shall be focused on building up the people. It will be about the people -One hundred percent, 100%. What product or service can lay claim to its full value if it does not uplift the people, make their life better, more meaningful and more purposeful. By God’s special grace, we shall lift Anambra to great new height through youth/ women empowerment, sports and recreational development, tackle unemployment, infrastructure deficit, Industrialization and Energy development. Other issues include Housing and Urban planning/ renewal plans, strengthening Health and Education sectors as well as Civil service reforms amongst other nagging issues like sanitation and innovative erosion control mechanism as indicated earlier.”