Snippets of Senator Ngwu Grand reception in Enugu   

          BY JUDE OSSAI / ENUGU

The inauguration of the 10th National Assembly held in the nation’s capital, Abuja on June 13, has come and gone but the echoes especially from the intrigues that characterized the emergence of principal officers will continue to reverberate for a considerable time.

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One of the interesting fallouts from the Abuja inauguration is that many of the Lawmakers took the joy of their political  elevation to their various constituencies for more celebrations.

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For Senator Osita Ngwu, Saturday, June 24, was the day his Constituency, Enugu West Senatorial Zone, set-aside to celebrate with him.

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The grand reception for Senator Ngwu was unique as he is the only surviving Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker in the Upper House from the Southeast geo-political zone. Recalled that at the inception of the 4th republic in 1999, the zone was dominated by the PDP at all levels of government.

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Senator Ngwu also has to contend with the huge task of fitting into the big shoe of the former deputy president of the senate, Ike Ekweremadu whose contributions he acknowledged during the reception, promising to improve on his positive síde.

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Little wonder, “The Base Landmarks, Independence Layout, Enugu, venue of the reception was filled to its capacity with people from far and near in attendance.

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 Among the dignitaries were Governor of Enugu State, Dr Peter Mbah,  Ex-governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Clergymen,  traditional rulers,  political class comprising former elected/appointed and members of the PDP, family members, friends and well-wishers.

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The former Principal of College of The Immaculate Conception (CIC) Rev. Fr. Nnamdi Nwankwo, kick-started the occasion with his opening remarks,  congratulating Senator Ngwu on his triumph at the poll.

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The Cleric who also hails from Eke in the Senator’s senatorial zone, urged him to unite the people of Enugu West and prayed God to give him the strength to give the people of Enugu State good representation.

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Speaking at the event, Senator Ngwu said he would leverage on the disruptive innovative   agenda of Governor Mbah to return Enugu to its lost glory, stressing that his zone would partner with the state government on culture and tourism as well as other developmental projects.

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Ngwu who noted that water issue as promised by the state governor wouldn’t be a challenge again, said,  “Winning an election is about the people and I am happy that the good people of Enugu West massively voted for me. What it means is that I will not take the support of our people for granted. I will give them genuine quality representation at the Senate.”

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He recalled his electioneering promises, saying, “I told you my primary obligation is to legislate for the welfare, security, peace and good governance of Nigeria with particular interest on Enugu West Senatorial Zone. I assure you all that I will pursue them with vigour. Our governor said it will be unusual. We will key into it to reposition our state.

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“We are going to have Constituency offices in all the five local governments that make up the Enugu West Senatorial Zone.

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“I have a plan. One is that I have three primary roles. One is to make law, second, is that we have to hold the government accountable to make sure whatever the Executive is doing is in line. Thirdly, we have to lobby to make sure projects are coming to my constituency for benefit of the people. On capacity building which is a key area, we have started doing the thing before the election. Just three days ago, I gave 65 persons grants to start-up business.

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“I have gone round to ascertain the needs of every community. We have five local government areas and 21 political wards in the zone. What an Inyi person wants is not what an Ndiabor person wants or what an Awgu person wants. We have taken a synopsis of the projects and the ones not completed and we are going to start from there”, he said.

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“On women affairs, the Lawmaker said, “I have assigned the job to my wife and I know she does things well, so she will handle it well. I will give her all the supports required of her to make women and the widows happy in Enugu West Senatorial District.

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“On Cultures and Tourism, we are going to appoint five SAs, each will be incharge of each local government area of the zone to harness the tourism and cultural potentials in the zone. We will build dams in Achi, Mgbowo, Inyi and Mpu. And we will also have film village in the zone for Nollywood actors and actresses.

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“For the youths empowerment, just before the last election, I had 500 persons I bought JAMB forms for. We opened profile for all of them. I want to make sure I follow up the admission processes. Yesterday, we had special parliament where we promised that we are going to have sports festival. There will be annual sports festival involving other areas of sports to be known as Enugu West Sports festival. The days when talented  footballers from the zone cried for contact is gone. I am here for you. We will also offer scholarships, provide Information Communication Technology  (ICT) facilities  to youths, among others.

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Senator Ngwu  expressed  gratitude to Governor Mbah, PDP  leadership, and the people of Enugu West for their  support throughout his electioneering  campaign and election.

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This reporter who covered the event observed that many people from Enugu West Senatorial zone  were happy with the Chief Celebrant (Ngwu) particularly

when he told the audience, “I am now a full Senator of Nigeria  because of you. I assure you that  the vote you cast for me will not be in vain. Your prayers will not be in vain. The promises we made  we have started to  implement them. It is a four year  journey. We  have had  one sitting . I have six  motions on the table to be moved and they are in the interest of Enugu state, South East  and Nigeria

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“We want to consolidate on the gains we had made in the past . We are going to make progress and I  have already started the progress.”

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The highlights of the event were cultural dance, live band music, cutting of cake by Senator Ngwu and presentation of gifts by various groups.

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Governor Mbah, a special guest at the event supported Senator Ngwu in cutting the cake expressing  confidence in the Senator’s ability to effect positive changes in the state and in the legislative process at the national assembly.