Chime's govt has a human face
By SUSAN NWANGANGA AGWU
Thursday, May 1, 2008

Chief (Dr) Walter Oji, is the executive chairman of Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State. He could be described as a collosus in the political landscape of Enugu.

In 1998, he was at the verge of securing the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in the state, but the giant of Enugu politics, Senator Jim Nwobodo, pulled the carpet off his feet.
Today, as the executive chairman of Udi LGA, he has vowed to make the difference in the development of that local government area.

In this interview with Daily Sun, the amiable chairman speaks on the Sullivan Chime administration in Enugu State, the massive development going on in the state, the PDP crisis, his administration in Udi LGA, as well as the kidnap story of Igbonekwu Ogazimorah, an unrepentant ally of the former Governor of Enugu State, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, among other burning political issues in Enugu State.

Chime's administration
His Excellency, the Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Sullivan Chime, has demonstrated ably that Enugu could work, that Enugu could be renewed. The first thing that strikes anyone that visits Enugu is the string of new roads that we have now in Enugu, not only the state capital, but some other areas, like Nsukka. We are pleasantly surprised that the governor had the political will and courage to do these roads.

In the area of education, he has tried to make it easy for parents by providing education, as free as possible, for primary and secondary school pupils. University fees and other tertiary institutions were reduced. When he became governor, the first thing he did was to recall disengaged workers and also ensured that the work force in the state got their salaries as and when due. They collect their salaries on the 25th of every month.
In the area of enviromental sanitation, the governor recently launched compactor trucks and thrash cans, which would be distributed all around Enugu, to make sure that we keep the state capital clean. It's not enough to build roads, but it's also part of our responsibility to ensure that Enugu stays clean.

Demolition of structures
It depends on how you look at it. People erected illegal structures, and no responsible government will give anybody authority to go against the masterplan of any urban area. That will be illegality, even as it happened in the last administration. But you will agree with me that there was no policy direction then, and commissioners had no powers to do whatever they wanted to do.

So, those who built illegal structures in the state knew that they were doing something illegal, but they bribed their ways through to get the permission to do it. If you go to Abuja today, you will admire the city for what it has become, but it took a lot of sacrifices to get to that level. Many multi-million naira mansions were demolished, and they were all part of human sacrifices. Today, everybody is proud to have Abuja as our federal capital.

Coming down to Enugu, I know that many people will suffer in the process, but nothing good comes easy. My advise to those who were adversely affected is to appeal to government, they should present their plea in a proper manner, and I'm sure that government will respond positively. The government in Enugu is one with a human face, and is very sensitive to the feelings of our people. Government means well, and at the end of the day, they will be happy with what has been done.

As Udi LGA chairman
We had to tow the examplary leadership style of Governor Sullivan Chime. The first thing I did when I got into office was to pay the workers leave allowance for last year. I felt that after the Christmas holidays, parents needed money in their pockets, and children were supposed to go back to school. This was allowances owed them by the previous administration, and I had no reason to deny them that.
We also made sure that we paid salaries by the 25th of every month. The only example that I couldn't follow was the construction of roads. I was so filled up with the ambition that I was going to replicate the road construction going on in Enugu, in Udi. I was looking forward to that, until they brought me a N40 million estimate, to build a kilometre of asphalted road. I was shocked because I didn't believe it would cost that kind of money.

However, we felt that we cannot depend on the Federal Government allocations. We try to grow ourselves out of lack of funds. We are investing massively in agriculture and industrialisation, as well as in health, education and so on. We to invest heavily in agriculture, so as to exceed what we get as allocation.
We are also doing some water projects, because we want to make sure that every community in Udi Local Government Area, have water. Electricity will not be left out, and we plan equally to have a fish farm in every community within the next one year.

The Chimaroke factor in Enugu politics
Believe me, I'm very disappointed in his political activities in Enugu State. Senator Chimaroke Nnamani couldn't have gotten PDP nomination to contest the governorship elections in Enugu State, but for Senator Jim Nwobodo. It was Nwobodo and Okwesilieze Nwodo who hijacked the party primaries, and the rest is history. The reason I went back to history is that somebody who became governor of Enugu State by providence, should accept that God's hands are in what is happening in Enugu state today. He hijacked the PDP structure and used it the way he liked, and it was the same structure that he used to nominate the current governor, Barr. Sullivan Chime.

And you know that 75 percent of those who opposed Sullivan's candidature, did that because of Chimaroke Nnamani. It took so much pain and campaign to convince the people of Enugu State to vote for Chime. I thank God that when he became governor, he proved us right that he was going to be different. That is why today, 99 percent of the people, support Chime's administration in the state.

The Ogazimorah arrest saga
I can't say that I have my own side of the story, but I can only tell you what I know that happened. The incident emanated from series of complaints from the Awhum community where Ogazimorah hails from. There were incessant reports that unknown characters had been gathering in the community for several days, around Ogazimorah's hotel. That complaint was turned over to the police and they went to investigate the matter, along with some of the witnesses from that community.

Upon arrival, they met some people suspected to be political thugs, and the police took photographs of them with Ogazimorah. The report the police gave me was that when they arrived, Ogazimorah started threatening some of the witnesses from that community, in the presence of the police.
The policemen had no alternative than to take Ogazimorah down to their station. Upon making his statement, he had to be released on bail, and as soon as he met his bail conditions, he was set free. How he was arrested and released, I don't know. I was, however, satisfied with the professional way the police handled the matter.

I was surprised when I started reading in the newspapers that Ogazimorah was manhandled. That's further from the truth. There wasn't any struggle when he was taken away.The truth is that I don't even know him, and I cannot tell him from anybody else. I've met him once or twice, but I'm not good at recognising faces. I, however, know that he knows me, so he was just making mischevious allegations.