Concerned Ebonyi citizens have called on the State government, under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru to institutionalise empowerment programmes across the 13 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state in order to ameliorate the hardship face by many in the state.
They made the call following N5.123 billion budgetary provision in the state’s 2025 fiscal provisions earmarked for various human empowerment agenda by the state government, calling for a proper institutionalization of the various empowerment initiatives of the State government to provide room for assessment and measurabilty of its impacts on the governed.
This was the key highlight of the third edition of Nkata Oganihu Ebonyi organized by a foremost Governance accountability platform, Oganihu Ebonyi, held virtually on Tuesday, which featured the participation of the state’s Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Chief Oguzor Offia Nwali and other officials of the state government.
Responding to questions by participants; Melody Enyinnaya from Ohaozara Local Government Area, Toochukwu Nwali from Ezza South Local Government and Nwoba Williams from Agba in Ishielu LGA of the state, who demanded answers on whether the government has carried out any form of performance assessment on the funds so far expended on human empowerment programmes, Nwali admitted that the government is facing a challenge of some of the beneficiaries not admitting that they have received any funds from the government.
“That is why, in the 2025 budget, the government has earmarked the sum of N5.123 billion and we have an idea to build an Industrial Training Centre to manage it better. Ebonyi State government will no longer disburse funds directly to people as empowerment,” the Commissioner disclosed.
Nwali further revealed that some of the 263 beneficiaries of foreign scholarships of the state government would be leaving the country on the 3rd of January, 2025 to their various destinations of study in Europe and America.
A participant and beneficiary of the programmme, Chijioke Nwankwo from Ikwo Local Government Area commended the Governor for the initiative and other empowerment programmes, but lamented that but for the direct interventions of the Governor, they were already getting very frustrated with the gross incompetence of the managers of the programmme, which he said has delayed them from securing visas for their various study destinations across the world.
Nwankwo also decried that the Nwifuru administration has its problem deeply rooted in the people working with him as members of his cabinet.
“Most of the people working for the government has not even read the manifesto of the government. I think that this is the worst government in terms of policy direction,” he claimed.
Also speaking, one of the keynote Speakers, social media critic and chieftain of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Nwoba Chika Nwoba, sternly criticized the Ebonyi State government’s model of empowerment, alleging that empowerment slots are only shared to people serving in the government, APC loyalists and their cronies.
“If the empowerment was carried out genuinely, the testimonies would have been known by everyone”, Nwoba decried, daring the government to publish the names of the beneficiaries of the empowerment initiatives of the Nwifuru-led government.
The participants therefore suggested that the Ebonyi State government must study and emulate the skill acquisition and empowerment model of the Lagos State government which makes assessment of performances very possible and convenient.
Earlier in his opening remark, the Coordinator of Nkata Oganihu Ebonyi, Zack Onwe, commended the government officials and Ebonyians in general for finding time to be part of the conversation, stressing that the recommendations would help the State government perform better in all sectors.
In their remarks, the moderator of the third edition and Head of Communications and Publicity, Charles Otu and a Co-Convener, Dr. Ezeh Emmanuel Ezeh, thanked the participants and encouraged the state government to imbibe the lessons from the discussions to steer the ship of governance better.
“If the Governor succeeds, it is the success of all Ebonyians. And if he fails also, we would all be affected. That is why this platform will continue to do it’s best to support the government to succeed with its plans and agenda for the State,” Eze said.
