ABIANS, WEEP NO MORE; HELP IS ON THE WAY (A Text Of My Governorship Manifesto)- By Dr. Alex Otti. (continued from last week)
MY SOCIAL COVENANT WITH ABAINS: THE ANCHORS
Our plan for Abia is informed by a through need assessment that fully considered global and national economic realities, the challenges we have outlined above, and the opportunities we can leverage upon. These are not paper plans or the typical political promises that have no basis. We covenant to deliver on everything we promise, for there lies our honour.
Our plan is anchored on five main pillars:
- Governance, rule of law, and strategic partnership across frontiers.
- Economic transformation for job creation and poverty reduction.
- Social Transformation: Education, health, youth development and better life for women and vulnerable citizens and residents.
- Internal Security.
- The Environment: Green, Purpose built modern markets, smart cities and industrial pivots.
GOVERNANCE, RULE OF LAW AND STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
As your governor, I will strive to be an exemplary leader to a carefully selected team of men and women who will see themselves as servants of the people, and custodians of public trust. We will typify a government that is a clear departure from the inefficiency and blatant abuse of office that have been the signpost of previous administrations in the state.
Every government official will sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that clearly outlines his stewardship to the citizens. A periodic performance review will be carried out to ensure that optimum service levels are consistently delivered to the public. We will use appropriate technology to measure compliance.
My team will:
- Transform the process of governance by reforming the public service structure. Our aim will be to help public servants acquire relevant technology-based skills that will make them more productive and efficient. We will access existing processes to see possible areas where we can eliminate waste and corruption. Our purpose will be to eradicate the use of manual processes and migrate to the use of technology. Our administration will be fully e-compliant in the first three years.
- Transit land administration from the current inefficient manual processes to a digital process that will ensure completion of land title transfer within five working days. This will unlock the value that resides in the land assets to enable business owners access funding through the banks, using land as collateral
.
- Work with the legislature to amend the fiscal responsibility act to make it more responsive, more transparent, and easier to administer.
- Partner with local trade unions, chambers of commerce, industry and agriculture, community development associations and town unions to create a suitable framework to drive Abia’s integrated economic development framework. Complete works at the permanent site of the Abia State Government House, to make for the effective execution of our policies and programmes, in order to put an end to the shameful record of being one of the few states in all of southern Nigeria that still operates from rented structures since creation.
- Re-engineer all MDAs and institutions connected with the economic and infrastructural development of Abia, to become fit-for-purpose and more responsive to emerging needs.
- Partnership with neighbouring states in areas of mutual economic interests, such as agriculture, infrastructural development, and security.
- Eliminate all forms of illegal taxation and levies. Introduce e-based process of tax and levy administrations that will ensure that tax proceeds are domiciled in the state treasury in full, and on time.
- Reinforce and strengthen accountability. The audited account of the state will be published periodically as a public document.
- Run a transparent and open government.
- Build need-oriented infrastructure development in the communities.
- Build economic projects with multiplier effects on employment generation, wealth creation and the utilization of local raw materials.
- Create enlightenment programmes on government policies and programmes.
RULE OF LAW
We will transform Abia State to a destination where rule of law, and independence of the arms of government, will be intentionally nurtured to ensure effective checks and balances.
To achieve this, we will:
- Provide the necessary physical and soft infrastructure that will enable the judiciary to leverage technology in dispensing timely justice to the people.
- Decongest the courts by supporting the judiciary in harnessing the opportunities for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms for commercial and other minor cases.
- Work with other arms of government to introduce enabling laws that will enhance efficiency and speedy dispensation of justice.
Local Government Administration
The LGA system is designed to be the closest arm of government to the people, for the purpose of service delivery. Again, this vision has not been fully realised owing to serial distortion and abuses in the system. Our policies towards reviving the LGA system shall be anchored on the following:
- Restructuring the operational framework at the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission to transform into a truly independent organisation capable of conducting free, fair, credible, and transparent elections at the LGAs.
- Ensure that LGA elections are conducted as and when due, offering the people an opportunity to elect those they wish to lead them.
- Ensure that the LGAs are autonomous in accordance with the provisions of the law.
- Create a robust partnership framework that would enable the LGAs and the state to work together in the areas of community development, women and youth empowerment, health and education projects, for rural communities and in other areas of critical importance.
- Work with the LGAs to access opportunities and grants from multilateral agencies concerned with development, to support projects across communities.
- Partner with the LGAs to increase internet penetration in the communities, set up broadband infrastructure in communities, to enable young men and women, within the area, take advantage of the opportunities that abound in the digital economy from their communities.
Land Administration
Difficulties associated with the existing system of land administration, acquisition and transfer of ownership count as some of the factors that discourage investments in the state. The difficulties have made it easy for fraudulent individuals, even some of our communities, to defraud unsuspecting investors. To curb this problem, the concerned government agencies shall be required to digitalize their operations, along the line of global best practices. In seeking to move away from archaic, dysfunctional system of land ownership currently prevalent in parts of the state, the government shall:
- Streamline the process of land acquisition for every purpose, to enable investors get every information including size and location of land, original development plan for the area, all other information that would guide them, and limit incidence of fraud in all matters of land transactions.
- Make it possible for authentic property documents to be transferred to new owners within 72 hours
- Guarantee that all accruals due to the government from transactions related to land are fully remitted
- Enable real time update of all land administration data-base matters
- Facilitate effective enactment and implementation of all legislations, policies related to land administration.
- Create a model of land administration that would open the state for rapid investments across several areas, including real estate development.
- Enable property owners to use their documents to unlock funding from financial institutions.
Community Town Unions
Town unions and community development associations will serve as strategic partners whose structures and frameworks in the communities would be critical for the effective implementation of our programmes. In achieving this, we shall work with the leadership of town unions and community development associations to:
- Build needs-oriented infrastructure development in the communities.
- Build economic projects, with multiplier effects on employment generation, wealth creation and utilization of local raw materials.
- Establish welfare programmes for the elderly and the extremely poor.
- Create enlightenment programmes on government policies and programmes.
- Introduce community sports and cultural festivals as a way of reinventing our culture and boosting tourism.
- Use counterpart funding to encourage community participation in development projects.
- Partner with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), telecommunication companies and others to expand their facilities to our communities, so that our youths can leverage on the power of high-speed internet, and robust telephone services to drive their businesses right from their communities.
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION FOR JOB CREATION AND POVERTY REDUCTION
We plan to achieve an integrated economic development that leverage on our extensive human material resources to build a robust, resilient, and transformational economy.
Our administration shall adopt programmes and policies intentioned to reward partnerships that would enable the rapid and integrated development of our economy, to create wealth for entrepreneurs and business, generate employment and make the state a leading investment destination across all major business interests. It is our target to see development across multiple sectors so as to create new opportunities for various demographic groups in all economic segments.
We will anchor our economic plan on the enduring Specific action, Measurable impacts, Attainable goals, Relevant outcomes and Time-specific result (SMART) principle. We will use the following as the foundation of our drive towards economic development program for maximum impact- Industrialization, Aba, Transportation, Power, Agriculture, Solid Minerals, Technology, Entertainment, Tourism and Hospitality.
INDUSTRIALIZATION
Not too long ago, Abia State was littered with industries, that not only provided jobs for the youths, but made handsome contributions to the IGR of the state and other social responsibilities. There was the Aba Textile Mills, PZ, Lever Brothers, Nigerian Breweries, International Glass Industry, Golden Chicken and the Abia Palm, to mention but a few. Our checks shows that all these industries have either folded up or voted with their feet. Our plan is to bring back those that can be brought back and set up new ones, with the private sector management.
ABA
- Set up a full-fledge ministry to take charge of Aba, with the responsibility to design, implement and provide key enablement for the economic rejuvenation of Aba as an industrial and commercial hub, with the capacity to feed the Nigerian and African markets.
- Provide holistic infrastructural development in Aba, to create a model city that supports contemporary and traditional businesses, family life, and leisure activities.
- Mobilize private, DFIs and public funding to create industrial clusters that will provide for various industrial segments. These clusters will serve as destinations for crossing ideas, syncing opportunities, and significantly lowering production costs.
- Incubate 1000 new SMEs within the Aba industrial corridor annually.
- Facilitate Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives for large and strategic industries (textiles, leather, iron and steel, etc.)
- Support the establishment of state-of -the -art factories for each of the industrial clusters and expand the capacity of the players, to tap into opportunities within the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA). For instance, we intend to bring back a new Aba Textile Mill, with capacity to employ thousands of our young people.
- Establish technical skills development programs, to further empower entrepreneurs in Aba, especially in the areas of automation, use of technology to improve quality and productivity.
- Actively seek out and encourage innovative investors, to make our industrial clusters their home. We will ensure this by significantly improving the ease of doing business in the state.
- Upgrade existing markets and their support infrastructure. Our model of markets Is different from the medieval structures that litter our spaces today. We shall gradually replace them eith modern markets, supported by facilities like fire services, waste disposal systems, security cameras, rest rooms, medical centres, etc.
- Create integrated tax systems and seek tax free zone status, for industries that are located within the industrial clusters.
- Partner with business schools to develop a formal mentoring program for Aba traders, to enable them transit into new ways of doing business (e-commerce). this is imperative because trade and commerce are fast pacing into aggregated warehousing, which will eventually make the old way of trading obsolete and largely unprofitable. We must therefore proactively prepare our people for the new era.
- Set up a new department in the ministry of trade and commerce, which will have the primary role of facilitating trade between Abia businessmen and overseas partners. This department will be charged with driving compliance to standard, trade documentation and legal support.
To be continued next week on Freepressnews.com.ng
Dr. Alex Otti, (OFR) is the governorship candidate of the Labour Party for Abia State of Nigeria in the on-coming general elections in 2023.