An educationist and front-line governorship aspirant of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Anambra State 2025 poll, Sir Paul Chukwuma, has appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to prioritise the lives of the citizenry over infrastructural development.
Chukwuma, who was reacting to gruesome murder of a senior lecturer from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dr Osita Chinedu, argued that if the governor had invested in human lives, series of killings ongoing in the state would have been eradicated to a barest minimum.
The industrialist, in a statement signed by his campaign spokesman, Mr James Eze, observed that civilisation and human progress had very little to do with building bridges and other physical infrastructure and much more to do with the value a society places on the life of an individual.
“Human beings are the agents of civilisation and should be prioritised over physical development. Every responsible government should know this. Roads and bridges are for the living, not the dead. The sooner we realise this, the better for us all, because maybe the huge security votes drawn from the coffers of Anambra State shall finally be invested in securing public safety for all.
“We should all be worried at the ease with which criminals carry out their operations in our dear state. How could violent criminals gun down a citizen at the strategically busy Aroma Junction in the heart of Awka and escape without any challenge at all? Is that not a blow to our pride as a decent people?
“I’m traumatised by the tragic death of that young man (Dr Osita Chinedu) who carried not only the hopes of his family but the dreams of his country. The death of any human being diminishes me, but the death of a teacher is a colossal loss to humanity. He was a brilliant young man who had shown a great promise as a scholar of note and whose talent would have enriched the academia,” he added.