Anambra 2014: Vanguard for Good Governance Endorses Ezeemo

In the run up to the Anambra 2014 gubernatorial elections, frontline gubernatorial aspirant Mr. Godwin Chukwunenye Ezeemo has received yet another feather to his political cap as the Vanguard for Good Governance in Anambra State has officially endorsed him as their preferred candidate for the forth coming elections.

The association which is an umbrella association for all professionals and technocrats from Anambra State made this announcement through their president Chief Okey Ibenegbu. Chief Ibenegbu said the members of the body were pained by the fact that since the inception of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, Anambra State has not received dividends of democracy because those who were in control had other interests apart from the masses.

The association advised Anambrarians to make a clean break from the sordid past and embrace a new era of quality development and transformation which is what is needed to take Anambra state to the next level, and this is what a government headed by Ezeemo will provide.

In a media parley with journalists, chief Ibenegbu spoke on several issues bordering on the upcoming election in Anambra State. Below are excerpts.

The Vanguard for Good Governance in Anambra State is an umbrella body for professional and technocrats from Anambra State, it is formed to correct the errors those who has been in control since the inception of democracy has caused Anambra State and to chart a way forward for our State. Another reason for our existence is to correct the erroneous impression that Anambra State is peopled with semi-illiterates and traders; rather the state has the highest number of lawyers and doctors in the entire country.

Mr. Ezeemo was chosen because after extensive consultations with Anambrarians, we discovered that Ezeemo totally exemplifies what the masses desire. The masses desire a positive change; are tired of recycled leadership; do not want a politician tainted with politics of godfatherism, thuggery, brigandage, election rigging and manipulation; or even money politics. Rather they want somebody who will provide fresh breath to the state.

Ezeemo has several desirable qualities, first, he has been abroad, therefore, not part of the present problems bedevilling Anambra politics; his scholarship schemes, youth development and empowerment programmes, and widows’ endowment programmes has provided for thousands of Anambrarians and lifted them out from poverty. His Charity Ezeemo Foundation takes care of destitute, handicapped and motherless babies in several homes and centres all over the country. This Foundation has been in operation for over 10 years now; it is not something that was formed because he wanted his presence to be felt because of the elections; unlike some philanthropists who over night deceive people into believing they care, while their main interest borders on the elections. He also built a two-storey building for the NUJ in Anambra State. The list is certainly endless. Above all, he is making his money abroad, and using it to benefit his brothers and sisters here in Nigeria, not like other politicians who are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Ezeemo has a very good chance of becoming the next occupant of the Awka Government House, because Anambrarians are tired of living in the past or going backwards while other states are moving forward. They want somebody who is not part of the old brigade that has held the state hostage; they want someone who has demonstrated kindness from his own sweat and not one of those who has been defrauding the country of billions of naira while they bring few notes to the state in the name of development. They want somebody whose election will not further polarize the state because he belongs to a clique or that camp. These are what would be in the minds of Anambrarians as they cast their votes, and the only person that answers the above puzzles is Godwin Ezeemo.

Anambra State has the capacity to be like states such as Lagos or Kano, but we have not been blessed with good leadership. Any day we get somebody who genuinely cares for the welfare of the people, the state would be turned around; we believe in 2014, when Godwin Ezeemo emerges as the governor, he will put the state on the path to progress.