By Haluchi Ikemefuna
These must be frustrating times for the political opposition in Imo State. The gubernatorial election is exactly 11 months away yet there is no credible basis for those seeking the office of governor to make any counter-offer to the people. Most grating of all, the rebirth of Imo is occurring under the leadership of a maverick politician who has repulsed every attempt to subvert his administration.
Insecurity, job scarcity, infrastructure failure and waste of state resources are being rectified by Hope Uzodimma, the governor who was given zero chance at success by those who considered themselves nobler. The people have even grown weary of the old tricks of scaremongering and artificial violent conflicts. Slowly but surely, they now march in step with Uzodimma.
But how did Uzodimma turn his odds despite a supremely toxic opposition?
Some may have forgotten, but by January 15, 2020, when Uzodimma was sworn in as governor of Imo State, much of the world had gone into hibernation because of the coronavirus pandemic. He had to figure out how to lead a bewildered population of about six million people to navigate a disease that was at once dreadful, deadly and ill-understood. While he pressed on, his predecessor launched a media lynching crusade against him, combined with a desperate attempt to pull a reversal of the Supreme Court ruling, which validly pronounced Uzodimma governor of Imo State.
Uzodimma prevailed at the Supreme Court a second time but before he would enjoy the fruit of his double victory, the #EndSARS riots of October 2022 descended into armed insurrection in Imo State, complete with jailbreak and wanton arson attacks on police stations, monarchs’ and VIPs’ homes including Uzodimma’s. Criminals unleashed from the Owerri Custodial Centre on April 5, 2021, as well as the numerous police cells swelled the crime surge and came shy of crumpling the state. His predecessors also vowed to make the state ungovernable for him.
A trooper, Uzodimma marshalled security assets against this strange wave of anarchy and prevailed. By August 2021, the desperados found another channel in the so-called Monday sit-at-home called by the IPOB, and began sponsoring attacks against state assets, local government council secretariats, markets, schools, and even police stations. With the help of security forces and the cooperation of Imo people, the Uzodimma administration brought the situation under control and, today, peace has returned for good.
Uzodimma’s story is exceptional not because of how many obstacles he overcame but because, in spite of the turbulence, he continued governance with outstanding grace and efficacy. While he fought off the monster of organized banditry, he completed over 100 roads, including interstate roads like the 37km Owerri-Orlu dual carriageway, the 55km Owerri-Okigwe road, Phase 1. Uzodimma also hosted numerous state visits by either President Muhammadu Bubari or the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo. President Bubari himself performed the inauguration of the Owerri-Orlu dual carriageway right in the heart of Orlu, once a hotbed of armed agitation and insurgency, and met twice with Igbo stakeholders in Owerri.
While the President graced the new roads in Orlu on of September 13, 2022, the Second Plenary Meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) was already afoot at the Sacred Heart Pastoral/Retreat Centre, Orlu, from September 8 – 16, 2022. The top echelon of the Catholic clergy camped for nine days in Orlu unmolested! This would have been unthinkable one year ago.
In a swift upswing, more than six other high-profile events have followed in quick succession: from the Nigeria Army Week to Senior Police Officers’ annual retreat, to the annual retreat of Association National Accountants of Nigeria (ANAN) to the All Nigeria Editors Conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors to the Nigerian Academy of Neurological Surgeons, , to the Best of Nollywood Awards (BON) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) ICT retreat and so on. Imo State is back in business. The proverbial rotten tooth is removed, the mouth chews well again.
Uzodimma’s peace efforts have caught the world’s attention with a UN peace award and a plaque for fight against insecurity from the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria to boot.
Having won the peace, Uzodimma is prepared to keep the peace. He is taking popular humanitarian steps to correct all wrongs of the past. Barely a fortnight ago, he waived a 10-year promotion backlog in the civil service after enrolling all civil servants onto the state-funded health insurance scheme. Today, over 100,000 Imo youths, the very critical mass on which social stability rests, have been admitted, free of charge, into a digital Skill Up project. Imo is ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the harvest of opportunities will put unemployment and crime to sleep.
As if these weren’t enough, Uzodimma is pushing the envelope with the Oguta/Urashi River access project, which aims to map, dredge and expand Imo waterways into the high sea. River Urashi in Imo lies less than 93 nautical miles to the Atlantic Ocean the shortest distance to the sea in Nigeria. When finished, this project will jumpstart commercial maritime activities on the corridor and virtually eliminate piracy, illegal bunkering and organized crime within that axis. The employment potential in this project is only better imagined.
There are many examples to cite in aid of Uzodimma’s vision for Imo. But why so many adversaries, you wonder? The answer is not far. Uzodimma, unlike his predecessors, is not the product of any political godfather or dynasty. Uzodimma is adored by his kinsmen but he has not had an easy climb in his political career. He waded through betrayal and judicial obstacles to become senator representing Imo West senatorial district from 2011 until 2019 when he ran for the office of governor in part to truncate Rochas Okorocha’s third term bid by proxy of his son-in-law Uche Nwosu and also to break Imo away from the cycle of state-inflicted or induced hardship.
To this extent, Uzodimma does not fit into the archetype of the Nigerian Governor. Except Almighty God, he has no godfather, and therefore has fewer straws to give. He has no favours hanging over his head, so he has room to award contracts only to juried contractors. Now, quality jobs abound because with him, it is either the right way or the highway.
The quality of his output makes convert of sworn enemies. Former doubters now compare Uzodimma to the venerable Sam Mbakwe, Imo’s pioneer elected governor. Even his “friends” are shell shocked. They had feared the handsome, urbane, and high taste Uzodimma would turn the government house into a night club or worse service every personal relationship with public resources. They are stunned at how strenuous it is to convince Uzodimma to part with even a kobo of state money.
For his self-appointed enemies, Uzodimma’s success and soaring approval rating are a nightmare. These are the deluded psychopaths behind the scaremongering, behind the occasional security breaches, behind every attempt to demarket Imo before the rest of the world. They have been ignored, today, they will still be ignored tomorrow. Uzodimma continues with his shared prosperity agenda unfazed. His place on the right side of history is assured. It pays to be focused.
