5th March, 2020
Mr Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, says President Muhammadu Buhari will complete ongoing legacy projects in the South-East before the end of 2023.
Adesina gave the assurance when he received the Editorial management of Orient Daily Newspaper, led by veteran journalist and Editor-in-Chief, Stanley Egbochuku, at the State House, Abuja, on Thursday.
The presidential spokesman said several ongoing federal projects in the five south-eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo were at different stages of completion.
He recounted that in 2018, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had listed 69 ongoing projects in the region, mainly roads and bridges, funded from budgetary allocations, the Sukuk Bond and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.
‘‘Last December, I had reason to travel to Onitsha, Anambra State and onboard the flight to Asaba, I remember the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe, asking me to ‘thank the President profusely for us on the second Niger Bridge.’
‘‘The good thing is that the project will be completed by February 2022, as promised by the contractor handling it,’’ he said.
Adesina welcomed the initiative by the media group to partner with his office to uphold professionalism in the media industry.
In his remarks, Egbochuku, a former Vice President of African Capital Alliance, who worked variously with Daily Times of Nigeria Plc, Concord Press Nigeria Limited, Business Day Media Limited, said:
‘‘Journalism is a profession that must be respected and we believe that the President’s media handlers (Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu) have done so much to promote this.
‘‘You have not disappointed us in the media industry and must be assured of our strong support.”
The Orient Daily Editor-in-Chief and Chief Operating Officer told the president’s spokesmen that the Awka-based publication recently received an approval for a facility, which would boost its operations and circulation across the country.
According to him, the media organisation with the slogan, ‘‘Setting the Bound Free,’’ wants to be a legacy media house, adding; ‘‘if we work with you we know we will get the needed support.’’
Egbochuku, a close associate of the late Chief MKO Abiola, thanked Buhari for conferring the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) on the acclaimed winner of June 12, 1993, presidential election.