Orji Tackles Crime With SURE-P Funds

Governor Theodore Orji
of Abia State says  he deployed the state’s share of the funds from  the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) to stop kidnapping and other criminal activities  in the state.
Orji made this known to newsmen in Umuahia while speaking on the gains of SURE-P  in  the state.
“If there is anything SURE-P has done for us here, it has helped us to fight kidnapping and criminality and I recommend it to other states that are facing security challenges,’’ he said.
He said  youths,  who got  vehicles , participated in the  skills  acquisition programmes or engaged in the state farm settlements initiative,  had  no visible means of livelihood in the past.
Orji urged other governors to utilise the funds set aside for the programme to create job opportunities  for the growing population of unemployed youths.
The governor  said the  SURE-P  initiated in 2012 by President Goodluck Jonathan  had helped in tackling extreme poverty in the country.
He said Nigeria was capable of constructing new refineries with funds meant for SURE-P and end the importation of refined products.
“We have the capacity to build refineries but before they’re built, which will take between two and three years, people have to be alive.
“Therefore, that money that is saved from the removal of the subsidy should go to the people for them to sustain themselves because things are difficult.
“The gains of SURE-P would help to sustain the programme beyond the present administration.
“It is the people for whom SURE-P was initiated and who have benefitted from it that should demand for its sustenance, the governor added.