Professor Gregory Ikechukwu Ibe is the founder and chancellor of Gregory University in Uturu, Okigwe, and the APGA governorship candidate for Abia State. In this interview with newsmen he states why he wants to be governor and what he intends to achieve while in office. The Guardian was there. I had earlier written to the governor as well as the party. It was documented that by 2023, I would be out again as the adopted candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party based on what was agreed.
With all due respect, there is a saying that: si ce n’est pas du panadol ce n’est pas du Panadol, which is to say: if it is not Panadol, it is not Panadol. Once my name is mentioned from the area of competence, on investment in the state, on having the perquisite knowledge or ideas on development, I remain their non-pareil. I respect their diverse kinds of training, upbringing, and experience but they should know that in comparison, I am quite up there.
The healthcare institutions are as good as dead; the government is owing workers huge amounts of their salaries, and each month adds to the previous month; it is also not paying pensioners. The Bible says a worker deserves his wage. The opposite is the case in Abia State. Somebody somewhere should be held accountable.
I want to come in and cleanse the Augean stable; I will hit the ground running with what is available, with whatever anybody has done before, taking it as a base and then make Abia to resemble what it ought to be in terms of being the number one state it was meant to be. Someday, we will need engineers to help develop the state and they will not be there. We used to have the health technology school in Aba but today the universities have taken over most of those allied health institutions covering such branches as physiotherapy and radiology; these are critical courses. They are not offered in Abia State University, but my university offers those two courses including medical laboratory science; we also offer Nursing.