Development of South-South not optional, says Jonathan

Posted by admin Latest Politics, South-South Monday, March 7th, 2011

FOUR-YEAR development plan aimed at opening up the South-South geo-political zone has been unveiled by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The major projects contained in the blueprint are coastal roads and railways, which the President said are designed to open up the oil-producing region.

Before his supporters that gathered at the Esuene Stadium, Calabar, Cross River State, Jonathan, whose presidential campaign berthed in the state yesterday, said: “One key thing in this part of the country is opening up the whole of the South-South to the rest of the country. That is why in the next four years, we’ll work very hard to ensure that the coastal railways and the coastal roads are vigorously executed. They are projects that would take enormous resources, and we know that we cannot do that with our yearly budget, so we have set up committees on how we must execute them. We have no option. The area must be opened up for development.”

The President assured that his administration would intervene in any area that “we believe can improve our economy. This is a rally, I may not give you details, but definitely I will do that in due course. You are already aware of the power sector reform. That is the area we have taken very seriously because for you to ensure that small and medium scale enterprises flourish in the nation, there must be stable power supply.

“That is why we are so committed. Of course, we also have projects in Cross River State. You know about them. We are intervening seriously in agriculture. We must mechanize our agriculture and we must look into ways we can go into export of our produce. A very few things are being exported from Nigeria. We must improve our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Let us get more money and even improve on our foreign reserve.

“The petroleum sector is also another area that we have taken bold steps to enhance its capacity. The new Petroleum Industry Law should create a lot of jobs for our people. The local content component is designed to give Nigerians more opportunities. We are going to add value to the petroleum sector so that we expand the export sub-sector. We are going to the petrochemicals so that more jobs would be created and we would also earn more money from the industry, ” he said.

On the industrial sector, Jonathan said the Federal Government had made funds available for its transformation. “You are aware that some of our ailing industries have taken soft loans from the government to expand and create jobs and wealth.”

The President also spoke on the worrisome situation at the Tinapa project. “We are aware of the situation in Tinapa. We will continue

to work to make it vibrant and productive. I want to say that what we have in Tinapa is a major investment that the federal and state governments should not allow to waste. We also know the challenges caused by the Bakassi incident and the national boundary adjustment agencies would be properly funded so that most of the challenges we have, especially the Bakassi Local Council would be resolved.”

The President’s wife, Patience, who was in Benue to seek support for her husband’s ambition, said the strings of brooms tied on streets of Makurdi, the state capital showed that the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria was afraid of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mrs. Jonathan, who kicked off the PDP presidential campaign Women rally in Makurdi, urged the women from the six North Central states at the event not to be deceived by the actions of the opposition.

She said: “I don’t want you to be deceived because as I was coming in, I saw tiny brooms tied on the road. That shows that they are afraid. If they are not afraid, why is it that they are tying tiny brooms on the day we are visiting?”

The President’s wife further said despite the games being played by the opposition, the large turnout of women at the rally showed that they were committed to the Jonathan/Sambo ticket and that of all PDP candidates in the zone.

“We are going to follow PDP, whether they are going back or forward. Women will follow Jonathan and (Vice President Namadi) Sambo because of their commitment to delivering 35 per cent appointments to them. No amount of money can buy your conscience. If they give you N5, 000, it will be momentary. Vote for the party that will transform your states and that is the PDP.”

On thuggery, Mrs. Jonathan charged the women not to allow male politicians use their children as thugs because the lifespan of childbirth of a woman ends at 45 while a man can still give birth at 100.

In a welcome address, wife of the Benue State Governor, Mrs. Yemisi Suswam stated that the rally was not a campaign, but a get together to thank the women of North Central for their support for Jonathan and Sambo.

She said that the women in the zone have faith in Jonathan as a committed leader, who is interested in their welfare, noting that they would vote en-masse for the PDP.

Also, Governor Gabriel Suswam asked the women to support the President at the next elections, as women are the ones who bear the brunt of any misrule.

-Guardianwp_posts