From Chinedu Nwafor, Abakaliki
The Candidate of the Labour Party for Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency in the 2023 general elections, Chief Nkemkanma Kama, said he is in the race to bring better empowerments and development to his people.
Kama who stated this at the weekend while speaking with Journalists in his country home, Amaeze Ishiagu in Ivo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, pledged to leverage on his contacts, connections and exposure to better the lots of his people, if given the mandate.
While lamenting on the level of poverty in the State which he described as scary, the Philanthropist promised to tackle the menace in his constituency head-on, if elected as a member of the green chambers of the National Assembly, next year.
He said he was going to go extra mile, including reaching out to his numerous friends as well as international organizations, to offer better representation to his people.
Kama who disclosed that he had been in the confines of the National Assembly since 1999, doing his business, said he understood the workings of the National Assembly and would maximize it to the benefits of his people.
He said: “I have been in the confines of the National Assembly since 1999, so I know the workings of the National Assembly from A to Z. I can say that almost 90% of my businesses have been in the National Assembly until recently.
“So, it’s difficult to know that I’m not a member or staff of the National Assembly, because I’m there all times. With that, I believe that the knowledge I have about the workings of the National Assembly will help me in attracting different empowerment and development to my people.
“And coming from the business sector, it will also help. I have the privilege of knowing alot of people and I will leverage on the people I know to get things done for my people. I’m also looking at the international community, I’m sure that if we talk to them very well, alot of them are willing to look at our case in every situation and see how they can come in.
“So, I’m going to go out of my way to reach out to international organizations and leverage on my contacts, exposure and connections to bring better representation to my people.”
On his preparedness to upstage candidates of other political parties, Kama noted that the 2023 general election, was going to be more of individual than political parties, saying he was confident of victory.
“The election of 2023 is more of individual and not political party this time around; and I have seen that people are looking at antecedents, what you have done to them so far without having an office. They will be assessing you based on: if this person is given the mandate, what can he do for us?
“And I’m putting myself forward because I believe that my people, even though, I can’t say about all the local government Areas, can trust me with their mandate with the little I have done with what God has given me. It’s a selling point to my people and I believe that when others hear what I have done, they would want to support me to win the election,” he said.
Kama promised to focus on four cardinal points, namely; poverty alleviation, education, agriculture and health, if elected to represent the constituency in the next election.
“One of the major problems we have in our society today is poverty. I read someone say that Ebonyi State is about 76% in the poverty index. It’s scary. One of our major concentration if God finally gives us power is poverty alleviation. We need to find a way to bring our people out of poverty and education is one of those measures.
“I’m also looking at agriculture. We have not been able to harness the agricultural potentials we have in this arable land that God gave to us. We have just been wallowing and talking but nothing has been done so far to use what God has given us to help ourselves. So, we are going to focus on how to alleviate poverty among our people, especially the women. We are going to form cooperatives for them and engage them meaningfully.
“Also, health is one of the greatest challenges we have in this society. A medical Doctor told me that in Akaeze they have this big health problem because of the water they drink. Most of the people there are suffering from liver problem and we just have the so-called general hospital in this local government with just one medical doctor and a few Nurses serving entire local government area as big as this. It’s a bizarre.
“Someone told me that the only facility functioning in the general hospitals in this our area is the mortuary. This is very worrisome. So, health is a very big challenge and during our campaign, we will see how much medical outreach we can do for our people for now. Poverty Alleviation, agriculture, health and education are the four cardinal things we are going to focus on, if elected, to see how to help our people,” he concluded