Governorship Candidate of the KOWA party in Abia State, Pharm Benson Chibunna Onyekachi, has said that his ambition of becoming Governor is not borne out of personal interest but the zeal to serve the people better, Igbere TV reports.
Speaking in an interview with Igbere TV on Wednesday, Onyekachi said his plan is to make Abia State a tourist hub for education.
He said his goal in the first term in office is to reform the education sector and make teaching an attractive profession.
Onyekachi said he plans to make Abia’s education sector meet world standard, which according to him, will attract foreigners to school in the state.
In his words, “If my people afford me the opportunity to serve, we will take teachers off tax, make teaching attractive, give incentives to rural teachers, that way our teeming unemployed graduates will take up teaching as a career. We will train and retrain teachers. We will build more schools to make education accessible to all. We will enact laws to make parents legally bound in ensuring their children stay in school especially the ‘girl child’.
“Our plan is to make Abia a tourist hub for education. Nigerians ship capital in billions of dollars out of the country to buy education, subsequently exporting our human capital. Our neighbouring Ghana make over $1B annually from 71000 Nigerian students schooling there.
“We will make education an industry in Abia. We will revamp and equip existing infrastructure, laboratories & schools to meet world class standards. We will encourage foreign students to come to Abia’s schools and universities.
“Yes the federal govt determine the curricula however we will inculcate ICT so that on leaving senior secondary, Abian children would know how to code, develop websites and apps. They will be equipped to compete globally,” he said.
Speaking on his chances in the forthcoming gubernatorial election, Onyekachi said he has the capacity to deliver the state.
He said his government would be transparent to all, maintaining that he has since produced a 100-page document which serves as a covenant between himself and the people of Abia State.
“Do you think that our leaders, past and present lack the capacity to transform Abia? No they don’t. They just don’t care about the people. They only care about how much power, wealth and chieftaincy titles they aggrandise for themselves, families and cronies.
“Abia has the resources to be great, all we need is good people.
“We shall be accountable to the people of Abia. We have a 100 page document of how we would inform Abians of all accrued allocations and accounts of all activities. It is the people’s right to know,” Onyekachi said.
He, therefore, called on the people of Abia to elect him as governor in the March 9 governorship election “for a new breed Abia.”
