2023: Chukwuma Agwu Outlines Agenda for Bende North Constituency

In a bid to change the fortune of Bende North Constituents in Abia State, an aspirant vying for a seat in the Abia State House of Assembly under the flagship of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNNP, Raymond Chukwuma Agwu has revealed how he intends to better the lot of his people, if elected.

According to Agwu, while speaking on his aspiration and goals for the people of Bende North, he noted that his ambition is premised on a 5 points agenda, which includes job creation, youth empowerment, education, restorative justice and economic/political inclusion for all.

He said, “Job creation – An idle mind, they say, is the devil’s workshop. The increase in the rate of crime and several related issues in our society today owe its root to lack of jobs for our people, but most importantly to the feeling of injustice which blind leadership creates through favouritism as against meritocracy. As a House of Assembly member representing the good people of Bende North, I will use my office to agitate and secure the job opportunities that are due my people. But I will not stop there. The office will equally elevate my clout and afford me the opportunity of making recommendations for jobs both within the private and public sectors. I will not only ensure that these chances and opportunities get to my people, I will, most importantly, ensure that they are not sold to the highest bidders but offered to the qualified members of my constituency and to those who really need such opportunities to better their lots.”

He added, “Youth Empowerment – My empowerment plans for the people of Bende North are categorised into two: the skilled and the unskilled category. The youth population of Bende North boasts of determined young men and women who have been able to acquire some very important skills that, when given a little support, can help comfortably sustain their livelihood. Many have either been able to start the practice of their skills but need some financial support to boost and upgrade their businesses, or are unable to start up due to financial constraints too. For this set, I will offer financial assistance and go the extra mile of making their access to loans much easier. The other second category is the unskilled set. Within this group, two sets exist. The first are the very young ones who are only looking to be empowered with modern skills. With this sect, I shall use my business connection, experience and clout to organize free but intensive skill acquisition programmes, especially in the areas of ICT, to enable them meaningfully be engaged. The second sect within the unskilled group, who would rather be empowered with material equipment and machines, will equally be properly taken care of.”

“Education – Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world” -Nelson Mandela. One of my most critical concerns as a House of Assembly member representing Bende North, shall be to reduce the now alarming out of school children within the constituency, and to assist with moves and bills that would help extend this reduction throughout the state. Families who, for financial reasons, are unable to keep their under aged children in school, will be assisted to be able to offer basic education to their children. I equally intend to create motivations and incentives that would stimulate our people’s interest in education. It is no longer a hidden saying in our society today that “education is a scam”. This philosophy, to me, is not only destructive of the individual person, but of our society in general. I will, therefore, institute scholarships across the different levels of our education, to be able to motivate the interest of our people in education and rekindle belief in Nelson Mandela’s words that, “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

Speaking further, he said, “I intend to create opportunities for women and children, economic and political inclusion for all. Despite the advancement in time, women and children have generally remained the most vulnerable class in the global society. The result gets worse when one narrows down to the continent of Africa, to Nigeria, to our dear state, Abia, which is today occupying the economic and social rump of the South-East. In Bende North, the condition of women and children do not point to any better indices. Similar to this regrettable condition is non-inclusive governance and government policies that we are gradually adapting to instead of working hard to destroy in our society. As an Honourable member representing Bende North, I will not only support policies and bills that resonate with inclusive governance where everyone is an equal participant in the process of governance and policy development, I will ensure a special recognition and input for women and children.”

“Restorative Justice – I believe that at this critical time of our journey, and being thus afflicted by economic, political and social hardship and conditions which seem rather deliberately generated by bad leadership and manipulated to incriminate the people and make them helpless victims of artificial conditions, we may need to explore other alternatives to keeping our society safe, just, secure, disciplined and loving. I believe that one of the ways to go about this is to explore the routes of restorative justice instead of strict retributive justice. As an Honourable member representing Bende North, I will use my legal powers to engage, support and initiate bills that resonate with the repair of justice through reaffirming a shared value-consensus in a bilateral process.”

“I believe that by providing opportunities for those harmed and those who take responsibility for the harm caused others, we can better communicate as one people, work for a better society, and liberate ourselves from the helplessness meted on us by bad leadership. I believe that with restorative justice, we can better deal with the most inhuman and savage practice of jungle justice, and proceed with building a collective society. I believe that we shall arrive at a far better society if we adopt relationship, respect, responsibility, repair and reintegration as our mode of addressing crime, and I shall support such bills and policies”, he concluded.