BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

SATURDAY November 12 was a special day for Enugu State indigenes resident in Lagos. It was a day they defied a torrential downpour to mark the 18th Enugu State Cultural Day at the National Stadium, Lagos.

Organised by the Association of Enugu State Development Unions (AESDU), the ceremony attracted Governor Sullivan Chime, who was represented by Barrister Godwin Odenyi (Commissioner for Human Development and Poverty Reduction); 151 town unions affiliated to AESDU as well as 47 dance troupes drawn from all parts of the state.

At the colourful event AESDU President, Chief Chris I Nweke., President decried the state of federal roads in the South-East and high rate of unemployment and urged a concerted action on the part of the government.

He also decried the recent de-accreditation of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Enugu and commended the state government for taking some drastic actions towards redeeming the situation.

Gov Sullivan Chime

His words: “The association is appalled by the state of federal roads in the South eastern states. Most disturbing are the Enugu-Onitsha, Obolo-Afor-Oturkpo, and Enugu-Port Harcourt roads. We are greatly concerned because these roads have become impassable and death traps where lives and properties are lost on a daily basis.

“We implore your Excellency (Chime) to use your cordial relationship with the Presidency, our sons and daughters in the National Assembly in collaboration with other South-eastern state governors to, as a matter of urgency, rehabilitate those roads in order to lessen the burden of travelers on the affected roads.

“The rate of unemployment in the country is increasing at an alarming rate and we implore all governments at the federal, state and local government levels to device means of creating jobs for the citizens. We plead that conscious efforts should be made to address the challenges of joblessness in our society. The number of able-bodied skilled and educated youths that roam our cities presently is alarming and it portends a great danger for the future of this country.”

In a chat with reporters, Odenyi, who commended the indigenes for their hardwork and corporation harped on the need to harness the country’s cultural and tourism potentials, which he said was a huge foreign exchange earner for many countries of the world.

He said the state government was implementing ambitious programmes to boost job creation. “A lot of things are happening in Enugu. We have five-pronged projects that are targeted at youth employment, youth job creation and wealth creation for young people.

“We have a job creation registration centre where we categorise everybody to know their areas of need and therefore be able to address them and provide them with skills that match the opportunities that exist and we have the NDE working with us.

“We have skill centres; we have graduates retraining programmes where we assess our graduates that don’t have jobs and employment and find the gaps in their lives and retrain them. We have also the Enugu agricultural project – the Shangai Initiative where young graduates are sent to Benin Republic and Shangai.

“It is a world institution that has been able to showcase the best there is in the world. Even the United Nations Secretary General had to come and visit Shangai. We have trained more than 172 people. Enugu State is establishing 21 green cities, each of these cities is able to employ 2000 young people,” he said.

On the recent sack of non-indigenes by the Abia State Government and what the state was doing to cater for affected Enugu indigenes, he said: “Enugu State has employed volunteer teachers, even those who had retired from teaching in Enugu. That will show you that we are looking beyond even those retrenched from Abia state. The government is studying that and we will soon come out with a blueprint on what we will do to absorb our people.”

He commended Enugu indigenes in Enugu and assured them of government support because “our indigenes in Lagos have shown that they are very hardworking, they are united and purposeful. Even the rains could not stop them, that will show you the determination of Enugu people. I am here to support and show them that the government of Enugu State is solidly behind them and will continue to support them.”