Samuel Bello, Abuja

A gubernatorial aspirant under the platform of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Linus Okorie, has promised to create a rural women development fund to finance and run small businesses for women in Imo State.

Okorie, who hails from Imo East Local Government Area, Oguta, in Imo state, told journalists, in Abuja, that 27,000 women will have access to finance to run their small businesses, which would in turn boost Imo tourism, education and medical destination.

Said he, “Creating a functional system of education and pension programme is priority. I am sure that you know that Imo state is going to be a tourism destination and I want to turn that around.

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“Many Nigerians usually visit Dubai for holiday, but trust me they will now head to Oguta Lake, because we would attract massive investments to Oguta Lake.

“Imo state is going to be a destination for medical tourism and that would create functional system of education.

The aspirant added that a pension programme has been made by the party to avoid issues of owing pensioners in Imo state.

He continued, “Imo will be a state that will be winning awards for best governance. In terms of transparency of the movement of government account, every transaction is going to be transparent.

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“We would reform the civil service such that the civil service will become the institution that will deliver government programme with passion and commitment and integrity like never before and at the end, only the best will get government cabinet appointments.

“We are creating a pension programme, whereby we will never owe any pensioner in Imo state in our time.

“Wherever resources are in the world in terms of attracting investment in our state, in my tenure, Imo state will have a huge quantity and quality investments and in the context of making sure that every young person that is an Imo indigene will be skilled up.

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“It is going to be an operation skilled up project all over the world. Have a skill that is modern and global and you can earn a living with.

“Not just a local skill training but an international with global best practices, so if you are looking for tiler, you don’t need to waste your time. Imo state is going to be the centre where we can export tilers to other parts of Nigeria.

“We are going to have about twenty of these kinds of skills. We would have 27 youths every year that will benefit that alone. We will create access to finance.

“No person from Imo state with business idea will lack finance to do his or her business because government will guarantee those finances that will turn Imo State to a place where there will be a rise of small enterprises, and those enterprises will rise to become businesses like never before,” Okorie said.