DECLARATION SPEECH BY REP SAM ONUIGBO (ODOZI OBODO) DURING HIS OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF INTENT TO RUN FOR THE ABIA CENTRAL SENATORIAL ELECTION WHICH HELD AT HOTEL ROYAL DAMGRET, UMUAHIA, ON FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2022.

[Protocol]

I have always lived a life of service. It is very important that I begin by restating this. This life of service has remained a constant in my life, since my early adulthood when I was a student of Alvan Ikoku College of Education, Owerri. Thus, I am most satisfied when I am fully engaged in serving my people. It is a lifestyle anchored on deriving the ultimate satisfaction from performing impactful services to my people—one framed by the fact that the ultimate reward for service is the happiness on the faces of your people when you have impactfully served them.

2. When I began my political journey, my innate love for service was further framed by the principle of EAR— Effectiveness, Accessibility and Responsiveness. At the core of this is the simple belief that leadership that endures is anchored on a genuine desire to impactfully serve the people, further underscored by ensuring that such services are tailored according to the legitimate needs and yearnings of the people. That way, every step taken by the leader is prompted by the need to satisfy a specific legitimate need of his/her people.
3. This was why in my service to the good people of great Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency, every action we took was tailored to address a specific need. When I was sworn-in in June 2015, and we had to immediately begin the process of finding a temporary solution to the totally dilapidated and failed sections of the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikot Ekpene federal road. By that time, the road was totally impassable and there was an urgent need to provide temporary reprieve for the people before finding a sustainable solution. So, this legitimate yearning of my people, became a huge burden on me, and I did not sleep until palliative works on the road were completed in early 2017. We followed that up by calling for a total reconstruction, which is ongoing. This philosophy of service centered around being effectively responsive to the core needs of the people, gathered by being accessible to them also led to the construction of many classroom blocks and provision of educational support in the three local government areas to address educational needs; electricity projects to address energy issues; water projects to address potable water issues; erosion control works to safeguard our people and their livelihood sources; trainings and empowerment to address livelihood issues; hospitals and medical outreach to address health issues; motions and Bills to address myriad issues affecting our people; and interfacing strongly and boldly during oversight functions on issues that demand immediate and urgent attention. In essence, the entirety of my representation for the good people of Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South federal constituency was structured around being a representative of the people, who was guided by the voices of the people.
4. A great example of my representation being led by the clamour of the people is the effort we made in ensuring that efforts were made to restore the delisted courses (mostly management) at the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. Not only did I move a motion on the floor of the House on this issue, I followed it up with massive media campaigns and personal meetings. Two things were paramount on my mind while doing this: number one is the importance of ensuring that our children do not lose the chance of being educated in courses of their preferences which were already being offered by the university. The second thing was the need to ensure that businesses around the university boosted by the presence of a large number of students offering the delisted courses, were not affected. I am happy today that most of these courses have become accredited. This, for me, is what representation is all about— paying attention to the voices of the people and amplifying those voices, as their representative.
5. It is important to place on record that I have conceived and implemented mammoth/colossal projects for the good people of great Ikwuano/Umuahia North/South Federal Constituency of Abia State during my time as their representative at the House of Representatives. These projects include:

• Rehabilitation of the failed sections of the Umuahia–Ikwuano–Ikot Ekpene federal road in 2017.
• The ongoing total reconstruction of the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikot Ekpene federal road.
• Training of select women and youths from Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency on fashion designing by the Industrial Trust Fund.
• Training of mechanics in their workshops at Mgbuka, Ohiya Mechanic Village, by the National Automation Council.
• Training of select youths from Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency on Solar Panels installation, POP and painting, and web design by the Industrial Trust Fund.
• Training of select women and youths from Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency on fish farming by the Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Lagos.
• Training of 1,500 women and youths from Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency on how to start and manage small businesses by the Border Communities Development Commission. This was followed by provision of stipends.
• Training and empowerment of 100 men and women with galvanized battery cages, point of lay birds, bags of feed and start-up funds in February 2021.
• Empowerment of additional 100 youths and women with galvanized battery cages, point of lay birds, bags of feed, and start-up funds in May 2021.
• Training and empowerment of 100 graduates from Ikwuano/Umuahia North/ Umuahia South Federal Constituency in Arts and Culture, and the provision of stipends.
• Training and empowerment of 50 youths from Ibere in Ikwuano Local Government Area on how to run small businesses.
• Empowerment of constituents with several equipment/materials to enable them source for a living. These include the distribution of motorcycles, grinding machines, sewing machines, to hundreds of constituents.
• Construction of a block of four classrooms at Ekebedi Oboro, Ikwuano LGA.
• Construction of a block of three classrooms in Old Umuahia, Umuahia South LGA.
• Construction of a block of two classrooms at Adanma Girls Secondary School, Afugiri, Umuahia North LGA.
• Construction of a block of two classrooms at Umutowe Central School, Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA.
• Construction of a block of three classrooms at Nsirimo, Ubakala, Umuahia South LGA.
• Construction of a block of three classrooms at Umulu Ibere, Ikwuano LGA.
• Construction of a block of three classrooms at Umuajata Olokoro, Umuahia South LGA.
• Construction of a block of six classrooms at Amaoba Oboro, Ikwuano LGA.
• Rehabilitation of the Obuohia Obi-Ibere Cottage Hospital, Ikwuano LGA.
• Construction and equipping of the Oloko Health Centre, Ikwuano LGA.
• Purchase of WAEC and JAMB forms for constituents.
• Printing and distribution of past SSCE/NECO/GCE Questions and Answers (1988-2019) on English and Mathematics to students and candidates from secondary schools in Ikwuano/Umuahia North and Umuahia South Federal Constituency.
• Water project in Obunta Oboro Ikwuano LGA.
• Water project in Inyila Ibere, Ikwuano LGA.
• Water project in Avonkwu Ibeku, Umuahia North.
• Empowerment of 250 farmers on the 24th of April, 2017 with fertilizers, coveralls, knapsack sprayers, pesticides, etc.
• Donation of office equipment to Pacesetter FM, Umuahia after the fire outbreak incident.
• Provision of a Generating Plant for NTA Umuahia.
• Donation of a modern and powerful Sony camera set and other accessories to the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA) to support their digitization efforts.
• Erosion control work at Amankwo Ezeleke, Umuopara, in Umuahia South LGA.
• Erosion control work at Okwe Oboro, in Ikwuano LGA.
• Construction of a massive Skills Acquisition Centre with nine skills units at the headquarters of Umuahia South Local Government Area, Apumiri, Ubakala. (Ongoing)
• Electricity project in Obuohia Obi-Ibere, Ikwuano LGA.
• Electricity project at Umuezeala Obonipa in Usaka Ukwu,Ikwuano LGA.
• Donation of transformers to the following: Ndoro Oboro, Agbama Olokoro, World Bank Housing Estate Umuahia, Nnono Oboro, Landlord Association of Umudike, Maryrose Umudike, Ameke Junction, Umuagu-ngolori, Isi Court Old Umuahia.
• Medical Outreach in March 2018 where over 400 participants benefited from the free medical and counseling carried out by the medical practitioners.
• Following the outbreak of the Coronavirus, PPEs such as, tap-buckets, hand sanitizers, and liquid soaps, were provided for institutions such as FMC Umuahia, markets, parks, and constituents in line with the stipulations of the World Health Organization’s preventive manual.
• Construction of the Elemaga-Itunta mini-bridge in Ibere, Ikwuano LGA.
• Installation of streetlights at Obuohia Obi-Ibere and Ndoro Oboro, Ikwuano LGA.
• Reconstruction of the Ngwugwo valley embankment.
• Construction of drainage at Iyibom along the Okwe-Obuohia road.
• Construction of the Obuohia-Nkari Bridge (Ongoing).
• Erosion Control and construction of rural road in Umuecheokwu,Umuovo, Old Umuahia -Amakanma, Umuahia South LGA (Ongoing).
• Construction of a market with borehole at Obuohia Obi-Ibere in Ikwuano LGA.
• Construction of school block at Umukabia, Ohuhu, Umuahia North LGA.

6. Having set a standard and positioned Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency on the path of legislative excellence, my yearning to ensure that purposeful, visionary, and people-centered leadership is firmly enthroned in our country, one corner at a time, compels me to answer a higher call and take this gospel of effective, accessible and responsive representation to a larger sphere.
7. It is in view of this that I hereby make myself available to serve as the Senator representing the great people of Abia Central Senatorial District at the Senate of Nigeria. My motivation is simple: it is time to redefine representation in Abia Central and make it more people-centered. In doing this, we will replicate the principle of leadership-as-service, imbued with the EAR political philosophy. That way, our representation will be given life by the legitimate needs and aspirations of our great people. As usual, no one village, clan, LGA, will be supreme to the other. Every step taken will be on a needs-basis and in accordance with available resources. And together as a people, we will again redefine representation for this great Senatorial District at the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and put in place a standard that will grow our district decades after we are done.
8. My great people of Abia Central, 2023 presents us with the most viable time in our lifetimes to begin the process of all-round development and growth, anchored on visionary leadership and representation. We cannot afford to make mistakes as doing so will set us back decades and harmfully impact on our children and children’s children. That is why this election is critical and one that we must approach devoid of sentiments. Practicality and a keen eye on our futures should guide our actions. In all modesty, I am the best candidate for this job. Not only am I visionary, effective, responsive and accessible, my wealth of experience in progressive leadership makes me eminently qualified. and because the vision that will be implemented will not solely be mine, but a combination of all our visions, it makes my representation people-centric. And together, we shall collectively reshape our futures.
9. As we commence this process, by first participating in the party primaries and going beyond that to campaign for votes in the general elections, I urge us all to let peace and brotherly love guide us.
10. I thank you for finding the time to attend this important event.