I won’t rebuild facility destroyed during protests, says Umahi

TRACKING___Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, at the weekend, said that any facility that he had built but destroyed during the EndSARS protests would not be rebuilt by his administration.

He said that the people should rather protect them.

Umahi stated this while inspecting the various public facilities, including police stations and others, destroyed by hoodlums.

He told the people to always protect all government facilities in their areas as they were built with their money, warning those using the protests to unleash mayhem to have a rethink.

The governor, who noted that four police stations were burnt down, two in Ohaozara Local Council and two in Abakaliki, the state capital, said that he would not rebuild the two in Ohaozara because they were built by him.

“My position is that any facility that I have built and is destroyed, I will not rebuild it in my tenure. The other two police stations damaged by the hoodlums are rented apartments so government will strive hard to build two new police stations.

On the settlement of hospital bills for victims of the #EndSARS protests, Umahi said that the government would assist provided that such victims were not involved in criminality.

Meanwhile, on way forward to address the youth protest, Umahi advocated for both national and state conference to address the agitation of youth and other challenges facing the country, urging other governors to organise youth conference in their various states.

He said that the meeting would create opportunity for youths’ participation in policy formulation and governance, urging state governors to institute such conference in their states where the youths and elders shall be involved in allocation of the economy.

According to him, “the proposed national conference will address all the agitations of Nigerian youths, particularly the five-point agenda enunciated by them during the ENDSARS protests.”

“There is a lot of misinformation. People think that a leader must make magic. When you are building infrastructure or empowering people, they prefer you share the money.

“No nation will succeed without everybody making up his or her mind. We must all work. I think politics has killed us in Nigeria, as graduates no longer want to work. Even, Ph.D. holders want to be councillors.”