10 August 2015, Lagos – A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the National Auditor of the party, Chief George Muoghalu, has identified poor road infrastructure, power supply and insecurity as a major setback to business and economic development in the south east.
In addition, Muoghalu also said the zone which is noted for its exploits in trade, self-employment efforts had suffered from long years of neglect in practically all the sectors of the economy, thereby resulting in an army of unemployed youths and its attendant security challenges.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Abuja, Muoghalu pleaded with Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari as he gets set to confront the various challenges facing the country.
He assured the people south-east zone that at the appropriate time, the zone will get adequate representation in Buhari’s government.
In the area of economy and social welfare, the APC chieftain said both the party and President Buhari are determined to stick to the manifesto which encapsulates all that is needed to be done to take the country out of the woods.
Muoghalu said: “If you take the South-east for example, the issue of road infrastructure is very challenging, the issue of power, you know we have a lot of businesses that are anchored on power and if we have improvement in power supply, it will definitely improve our businesses.
“You need to also look at the issue of infrastructure, the issue of gross unemployment which Mr. President has been hammering on. So, these are the gross challenges facing the people of the south- east.
“If you look at it broadly, it is not peculiar to the south-east. This same issue of power supply, is also negatively affecting the man from Kano and the man in Kaduna is talking about the same thing.
“In the same vein, there are security challenges in the north-east and the south-east but the difference is that they vary in scope and impact. For example in the north-east, we are confronted with the issue of terrorism. In the south-east, we do not have the of that, but there is the issue of kidnapping and in the south-south, there is the issue of militancy.
“So, security challenges vary from place to place and when you look at it our manifesto, you see that we have plans to address these issues. And when you are addressing these issues, you will need to take note of the peculiarities of those challenges as it concerns specific zones.”
On the resurgent complaint about marginalisation of the south-east in appointments so far made by President Buhari, the politician dismissed it as mere insinuation, adding that the president was only being tactful, given the rot in the system in the past 16 years.
“I think it will be most unfair for someone to judge Mr. President with only few appointments that have been made. I know that the president will certainly, being a man that I know is fair, a man that I know is just, involve every part of this country. And that every part of the country will form an integral part of the government of the APC.
“So, my appeal here will be, let us be patient; appointments are coming out one after the other. The truth is that every part of this country is seen by the APC as an integral part of this entity called Nigeria and will be accommodated in political appointments. My appeal is, let us exercise a little bit of patience because appointments are ongoing.
– This Day