Before during and after the 2019 gubernatorial election, Imo State was very much in the news for absolutely wrong reasons. Apart from the politics of succession in the camp of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which took a ridiculous dimension, much emphasis was put on the power shift to Owerri zone campaign.
There was yet another group that insisted on anything but Rochas and his son-in-law. It was not the first time such a refrain would play out in Imo politics. It happened in 2011. While the 2019 gubernatorial election in Imo has come and gone, the acrimonies it generated are still lingering. The handover from former governor, now Senator Rochas Anayo Okorocha to Governor Emeka Ihedioha was never cordial going by media reports and events in the state since then. There is, indeed, no love lost between the ex-governor and the incumbent governor. The media war between them has been unprecedented in the history of the state.
I think that the time has come for them to forget their political differences and work for the development and progress of our dear state. The ongoing media war and war of words between the two eminent Imo sons cannot contribute anything positive towards the upliftment of the state. It will rather distract the incumbent governor from concentrating in the business of governance.
There are succession issues and even corruption allegations in other states, such issues have not degenerated to the level of the ongoing war of attrition in Imo state. While the first 100 days of an administration may not be enough to judge the achievements of any government, it will at least show the people where the government is heading to in terms of vision.
Governments the world over have not been short in lofty visions. Let me also add that governments in Nigeria including those at state level have not been deficient in having in place good dreams and visions. The problem, however, lies with implementation fatigue or what I may call in Igbo, ocheta ochefue. Rendered in English, it means remembering and forgetting at the same time.
Some governors in Imo have done well in the first term only to do the worst in their second term. Some have performed below expectation even in eight years. Some have not done spectacularly well either in the first term or in the second term. That is why Imo has remained sterile in terms of meaningful development since the present democratic dispensation birthed in 1999. In the five South Eastern states, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi can be said to have witnessed some measure of development. Therefore, Imo and Abia states should indeed wake up and join the other three. Since Emeka Ihedioha came to power on May 29, 2019, Imo people have urged and wished him to do well. He came at a time that Imo people want change.
That is why his arrival was generally applauded by all. Ihedioha should be different on the part of the people. His administration should be pro-people. His policies should be futuristic and development-oriented. Therefore, the governor should not disappoint the people who voted him into power. He should be answerable to them at all times. Some critics have advised him to avoid the mistakes of past governors of the state and right the wrongs of the past. He should heed the advice. With the calibre of men and women in his cabinet, there is no doubt that Ihedioha is poised to change the Imo narrative. He should change the Imo story. The people are tired of songs of lamentations and years of locusts. They are tired of singing funeral dirges. They want a new song of salvation. They want a new song of development. They are tired of political alienation and being regarded as the ‘other’ in the affairs of their state. They are tired of mass poverty and deprivation. It will not be long before one year is gone.
Since the fourth year is usually devoted to politics and campaigns, Ihedioha has only three years to prove that he can do the job and do it better than those before him. His competitors are those before him and not those that will come after him. It is not difficult to govern Imo people. In fact, Imo can be said to be among the easiest states to govern in Nigeria. Imo people do not depend on the government for everything. What Imo people need now include good roads, potable water, functional hospitals, good schools and perhaps bursary and they will praise you to high heavens. The new administration has started on a good note by setting up committees to recover some misappropriated Imo assets and other matters. It has also started the rehabilitation of Owerri and environs to ensure that cleanliness returns to the state once more. There are plans to revamp Otamiri water scheme and the building of 380km of roads across the 27 council areas. The government has instituted due process and rule of law by setting up and enhancing the works of the Bureau of Public Procurement and Price Intelligence.
Other things the government intends to do include the roads remediation along Port Harcourt Road by Assumpta, Protea Road, New Mbaise Road among others. It also plans to rehabilitate some schools as well as some hospitals. There are plans to revamp some water projects by the councils. The government will also revive the Avutu poultry, Adapalm and Imo rubber estates.
In a bold move to reduce the cost of governance, the government has reduced the 31 extant ministries to 18. The government has also aligned the state to the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to ensure that Imo people benefit from the scheme. Above all, the new administration has renewed the working relationship between the state and notable United Nations (UN) agencies and others such as UNICEF, World Bank, USAID, DFID and many others. There are so many things that the government is doing or intends to do which this space is not enough to cover. While the government is tackling urban decay, it should pay more attention to the development of the rural areas. Developing the rural areas is the best way to achieve comprehensive development for the state.
Giving bursary or scholarship to Imo students in higher institutions in Nigeria will be good for the development of education and manpower in the state. Government must revamp all levels of education in the state, especially primary and secondary schools, all of which are crying for urgent attention. Under Ihedioha, government must ensure that the revenue allocated to each local government is spent in that council.
All local government headquarters must be given a facelift in terms of road infrastructure, water and other amenities. They should be regarded as centres of development in the state. The government must also ensure that there is security of life and property in the state.
This is indeed the primary function of any government. It is, in fact, the reason government exists in the first place. The government should not fail the people in the vital area of security. Let the governor keep to the new vision of developing the state for the benefit of all the people.