A chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Comrade Adolphus Ude has lambasted South East governors and lawmakers for playing politics with the distribution of rice during the Christmas festivities.
Comrade Ude also warned that the South East governors are killing investment and economic growth in the region by embarking on excessive taxation, instead of creating ideas to boost productivity in the region.
In a press statement he released in Enugu on Monday, the ADC chieftain insisted that the governors and lawmakers were doing great disservice to the South East by distributing rice produced in other parts of the country as Christmas gift, rather than revamping the moribund farm settlements in Eastern Nigeria.
Ude, who is the Coordinator of ADC Enugu Like Minds, maintained that the distribution of rice produced in other regions of the country as Christmas gift in the South East was killing productivity and stifling economic growth in the region.
He lamented the failure of the governors to harness the massive agricultural potential of the South East region, in spite of the billions of Naira that they collect monthly from both federal allocation and internally generated revenue (IGR) of their states.
Ude criticized the governors for not investing enough in infrastructure and provision of basic amenities, but rather embarking on projects that would enrich them individually, such as building of luxury hotels and other recreational centres.
He bemoaned the inability of the governors to revamp the abandoned plantations and farm settlements established in the 1960s by the government of the Old Eastern Region under the regime of Dr. Michael Okpara.
He said, “The attention of Enugu ADC Like Minds has been drawn to the Christmas rice politics being played by South East Governors, senators and other lawmakers. This is reprehensible.
“The distribution of rice produced outside the South East region by our governors and lawmakers as Christmas gift is not only shameful but counterproductive. It is killing productivity in our region. South East has massive agricultural potential. We have hubs for rice production in Odumo in Aninri LGA of Enugu State and also in Adani, Uzo-Uwani LGA of Enugu State. Anyamelum LGA in Anambra State has massive agricultural potential.
“We have arable land in Abia, Imo and Ebonyi states. We can be self-sufficient in the production of rice and other staple food, as well as cash crops for export to earn foreign exchange, which will boost the IGR of the states of the region.
“Unfortunately, our governors are not interested in developing agriculture and agro-industries. They invest only in building luxury projects like hotels and recreational centres that will enrich them individually.”
Ude called on the governors to unite and synergize with federal and state lawmakers, to prioritise development of the South East region, for the benefit of the people in the region and the country at large.
He urged the governing class to re-enact the economic growth and development in Eastern region in the 1960s under the leadership of Okpara, when the region ranked among the fastest growing economies in the world, alongside the Asian Tigers, namely Hong Kong, Taiwam, Singapore and South Korea.
He recalled that Okpara used the revenue he generated from agriculture to turn the South East region into an industrial and manufacturing hub, establishing a gas plant, cement and asbestos factories and other economic booming business ventures.
He used the opportunity to passionately appeal to the South East governors to stop excessive taxation like the current federal government, warning that increasing the already overbearing tax burden of the people amounts to taxing them to death.
