An All Progressives Congress leader and former Secretary to the Abia State Government, Pastor Raph Egbu, has blamed successive administrations at all levels in the country for creating hate speech situations.
Egbu stated this in an exclusive interview with our correspondent shortly after delivering a lecture at the Zonal Executive Committee meeting of the Nigeria Union of Journlists, Zone C, in Umuahia, the state capital.
He accused leaders of the past administrations in the country of creating stumbling blocks to both individual and institutional development, describing the speeches as reactions to “hate actions.”
Earlier in his lecture entitled, “The Media, Hate Speech and 2019 Polls”, the one-time commissioner for information and culture in the state, said the time to address the challenge had come.
Egbu said to confront the problem, the people must ensure they elected only leaders, who were trained, knowledgeable, intellectually capable, and committed to the development of the country.
According to the former commissioner, such leaders must be able to ensure the safety of lives and property of the people, their fundamental human rights, equity and justice, and uphold merit in the system.
Declaring the meeting open on behalf of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the Commissioner for Information, Chief John Kalu, said the administration had changed the narrative on development in the state.
According to him, in delivering its five-pillar of development policy, the administration had built infrastructure, delivered quality services, improved the condition of the people, and created a friendly business environment.
Kalu, who said the administration was addressing the issue of teachers’ salary arrears and pensioners, added that it was also working towards completing the secretariat of the state council of the union.
In his speech earlier, the Vice President of the zone, Mr. Chris Isiguzo, said the union would use the opportunity to critically look at some of the challenges facing the nation and come up with a position on them.
