By Our Correspondent
The Senator representing Anambra South senatorial zone, Chief Emma Nwachukwu, has attributed the growing unemployment in the country to lack of job creation occasioned by harsh economy.
Speaking during a stakeholders interactive session with officials of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, from the 118 political wards in the senatorial district at Ukpor , Nnewi South local government area, Nwachukwu, however, expressed optimism that with the ongoing economic reforms embarked upon by the present administration, the situation would soon improve.
Nwachukwu, the first APGA senator from the zone, was sworn into the 10th National Assembly on October 8, 2025, following a by-election on August 16, 2025 and he replaced the late Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who died in July 2024.
The Senator said: “There is unemployment in the country because we are not creating jobs as a result of reforms being made in the country. The removal of subsidy and removal of exchange rate regulation are the right kind of reforms that are required in this country. We know they will come with some pains, but the good thing is that the economy is being right- sized and right structured.
“Jobs might be lost initially, but in the long run, it will create more jobs . For instance, if the subsidy was not removed and fuel was not appropriately prized, Dangote Refinery, for instance, might not be able to sell.
“Again, the federal government does not have enough funds to pay for capital projects and it is only when capital projects are properly funded and such funds get into communities, that they will trickle down to the various levels and the common man will feel the impact. Unfortunately so much money is going into debt servicing created by the previous administration.
“I am not an APC member; I am APGA, but I need to explain the economic realities on ground. However, we are making sure they are fixed and I am sure that very soon jobs will be created and there will be employment opportunities for our people.”
Senator Nwachukwu also spoke on some of the actions he had taken for his senatorial zone since he was sworn in.
“The first motion I moved was for the Okija spur road from the Onitsha -Owerri road because the bridge there that links many communities collapsed many years ago. The road connects three local government areas in Anambra South namely, Ihiala, Ekwusigo and Nnewi South.
“The Senate President has directed the chairman of committee on works to take it up immediately and report back to the Senate.
“You also know that Anambra South has 32 active erosion sites and what we did was to appeal to the ecological projects office to step in to combat them and they directed us to the Ministry of Environment who brought some experts that toured the erosion sites and did all the technical works and documented them. We are monitoring further action on them”, he added.
Nwachukwu also explained that the meeting, which began with a thanksgiving Mass, with the Bishop of Ekwulobia Diocese, Peter Cardinal Ebere Okpaleke and Most Reverend Jonas Benson Okoye of Nnewi Diocese in attendance, was an opportunity for him to thank the people of Anambra South senatorial zone for electing him.
He pleaded with the electorate in the area to vote for him in 2027 to return to the Senate since he is just completing the tenure of the late Senator Ubah.
“I’ve been in the Senate for only six months and because of the complex nature of the Senate, I had to study the environment before swinging into action. I plead that you send me for a full term to enable me accomplish my plans for our senatorial zone,” he said.
