By Oguwike Nwachuku
His Excellency, Senator Hope Uzodimma, Governor of Imo State has clocked one year in office. He did on Friday, January 15, 2021.
The Governor was sworn-in on January 15, 2020 following the historic ruling delivered on January 14, 2020 by the Supreme Court that affirmed him the duly elected governor of Imo State.
January 15, 2020 reminds us of the day a large, enthusiastic crowd of Imo sons and daughters thronged the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo airport, Owerri to welcome Governor Uzodimma from Abuja and to the Heroes Square, to witness his oath taking ceremony.
January 15, 2020 will also go down in the anal of our state as the day Governor Uzodimma recalled with nostalgia, the content of his manifesto, full of ambitious development plan which he had unveiled on January 11, 2019 to a gathering of eminent personalities after choosing to throw his hat in the ring for the governorship contest of Imo State that same year.
Indeed, to the incredible Imo sons and daughters, both those residing in the country and those living outside, it has been an eventful one year of purposeful leadership garnished with unprecedented socio-economic activity that will definitely alter the developmental trajectory of our 45 year-old dear state for the good of all in few years to come.
This is because we are all in agreement that after the administration of the first civilian governor of Imo State, Dee Sam Mbakwe, successive leaders in our state have not confronted governance with the sincerity of purpose, commitment and boldness that Governor Uzodimma has deployed to the same act. In most cases, selfishness, greed, cronyism, inexperience, rabid delight in impunity, recklessness, abuse of office, defined the policies of those who came before Governor Uzodimma.
Needless to say that we paid dearly for such unbecoming demeanour and still paying dearly for it going by the rot the Uzodimma administration has faced since mounting the saddle a year ago.
Governor Uzodimma’s inaugural broadcast to the people of Imo State on January 20, 2020 was nothing but a clarion call to serve.
He said: “I stand before you today as governor of our great state, solely by the uncommon grace of God to whom I give the glory for the momentous Supreme
Court judgement of January 14, 2020…
“I urge every true man, woman and youth of Imo State to put the past behind us, without throwing away the lessons learnt, as we forge ahead in the great task of building a New Imo State defined by common will of the people, in which equity, justice, freedom, and rule of law prevail over impunity and executive recklessness. This is the essence of good governance and it is my firm belief that democracy without good governance is nothing but a mirage…
“My good people of Imo State, my vision of a New Imo State is predicated on freedom, security, and shared prosperity welded into good governance. The evidence on ground indicates that Imo State requires fundamental reform to forge a new trajectory.”
Yours sincerely recalls his intervention when Governor Uzodimma’s administration turned six months old.
“Those whose eyes can see beyond the immediate already know where the government is headed but those who are blinded by fear, self-delusion, mischief, deliberate unbelief and rabid hatred may never fathom where Uzodimma is taking Imo to. Not even time and space will convince them to see any change but gloom,” I had said.
Let me say again that I still stand firmly by that declaration.
That is without prejudice to brethren who are perceptive enough to note that Governor Uzodimma’s one year in office has reinforced their hope that Imo State is not only making commensurate progress today, but will be a better place for all of us tomorrow.
Let us look at what Governor Uzodimma told Imolites when his government was just 100 days in office.
He had said: “My beloved Ndi-Imo, I want to assure you that I have come to serve. I have come to define good governance.
“I have come to prove that our people have not been cursed with bad governance since the end of the De Sam Mbakwe era as people have been bemoaning.
“I have come to demonstrate that from among us a good government can emerge to offer sincere, honest, purposeful and incorruptible governance.
“Hold me on my words and read my lips: Under my watch there will be zero public sector corruption. Imo State will witness unprecedented developmental strides that will make our people glorify God.
“I recognize that if not for divine intervention I would not have been able to recover my stolen mandate. I cannot therefore afford to fail either God or Ndi-Imo.”
In one year, Imo citizens have seen signs of good governance. Yes, they have.
Governor Uzodimma has not only tenaciously upheld the pillars of good governance anchored on rule of law, he has redefined accountability in governance, upheld right to ownership of private property, prophesed inclusiveness in governance, and made the pursuit of legitimate economic endeavours, transparency, respect for human rights, honesty and trust, the pillars upon which true democracy can stand.
One year in office, Governor Uzodimma’s intervention on road infrastructure, water provision, health sector, security of lives and property, youth empowerment, civil service reform, improved revenue generation, among others is reminding every Imolite that the criminals they saw at the corridors of power in Imo State before they will see no more.
To cushion the effects of dilapidated roads which he inherited, Governor Uzodimma mandated the ministry of works to intervene on the following roads which today are in perfect condition.
They include: Douglas to Naze junction, Links Hotel, Pious Nwoga Road, Hospital junction, Umuguma to High Court Road, Bank Road/Assumpta Avenue, Emmanuel College to Pastoral Centre, Imo Police Headquarters Road, Nekede Old Road bridge, Amakohia Flyover Road, Bishops Court Roundabout, Ebere Links end of new Government House Road, Amakohia-Onitsha (DSS Road), Works Road by Bala Suya, Cherubim junction to Owerri Club Road, Ahiajoku Centre- Port Harcourt Road, Umezuruike-Warehouse Road, among others.
Some roads have also been graded by the ministry and they include: Road Safety-Toronto-Orji, Ihitte Ogada-Awaka-Emekuku-Ekemmegbuoha, Old Road Nekede-Area H junction, Nwachukwu Orizu extension, Umuguma, Port Harcourt Road-Holy Rosary International College, Uchenna Bus-Stop, Ring Road in Irette, Umuguma last roundabout Road, Industrial Layout (Celestine Izunobi Crescent), Nwachukwu Orizu by World Bank Road, Holy Trinity World Bank Road, Ejimkeonye Street, World Bank Road, among others.
As I write, no fewer than 57 road projects have been embarked on by Governor Uzodimma’s administration with eight already completed and commissioned, 25 nearing completion and the rest receiving serious attention as well. They include the recently awarded Owerri/Orlu and Owerri /Okigwe roads where work has commenced.
It is important to note that while 28 of such roads were inherited from the previous government, the remaining were all awarded by Governor Uzodimma.
I do know that many Imo folks who play politics with Governor Uzodimma’s administration will pretend not to know that such giant strides had been made in the area of road rehabilitation, but the truth remains that those who have eyes to see and are desirous of an Imo of our dream have seen the efforts in that direction and have commended the governor.
The Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Most Rev Dr. Anthony J V Obinna is one of those who see the good intention of the governor in the area of infrastructure and has commended his efforts.
I do not need to bother us about the gains this government has recorded with the automation process which today has made it possible for all genuine civil servants and pensioners in the state to know their status and to be promptly paid their entitlement without the old system of looking for who to bribe before they could get paid what is their right. That is one of the benefits of the reforms that Governor Uzodimma brought into the state.
During the one year under examination of Governor Uzodimma’s administration, a new University called the University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences located at Umuagwo has been accredited and receiving all the attention it needs to be positioned as one of the best in the country. The new premises of the Imo State Polytechnic Omuma is almost ready, barely five months work began on the site.
Governor Uzodimma has finalized arrangement for the building of 305 classroom blocks in all the electoral wards in the Imo state. Today, our sons and daughters attending any of the Nursing and Midwifery schools in the state are proud to say that accreditation is no longer a problem because Governor Uzodimma has successfully helped them to accomplish the processes. This was done during his one year in office.
Talk of Governor Uzodminna’s intervention in health, the gains are even more outstanding. Not only did he distinguish himself the way he approached the deadly corona virus pandemic that took the world by surprise and wreaked havoc all the over the place, Governor Uzodimma built four state of the art isolation/treatment centres in Imo, followed it up with the procurement of 34 ambulances given to all the 27 local government areas of the state, and the launching of Mobile Clinics to cater to the health needs of the people.
Apart from putting in place well equipped isolation and treatment Centres and providing the ambulances for emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic at the 27 local government areas and the state capital, the Imo State University Teaching Hospital at Orlu recently hosted the ground breaking ceremony for a permanent emergency and infectious disease hospital for the South East. The project was attracted to Imo by Governor Uzodimma.
As I write, the Emergency Operation Centre at the Umuguma General hospital is working at its best. What is ongoing there is nothing but a prelude to the proposed 305 health centres to be established in all the electoral wards in the state.
What Governor Uzodimma has done in the area of youth empowerment is not less important. He was one of the few governors who intervened immediately following the #EndSARS# protests by releasing an initial N2b to cushion the effects of the hardship the youths were complaining about. Besides, he promised to invest a whooping N6 billion on the youths over a period of time to enable them acquire skills that will assist them to be self-reliant and economically stable.
The office of the Special Assistant on Youth Affairs and the Ministry of Skill Acquisition and Entrepreneurship were mandated to embark on massive training of the Imo youths in line with Governor Uzodimma’s notion that youths are the leaders of tomorrow. At least 5,000 Imo youths have been trained on different skills with most of them already empowered in the area of their competence.
There is great synergy between Governor Uzodimma and the government at the centre as well as the drivers of the nation’s economy. The governor has taken advantage of that synergy and goodwill to attract modular refineries at Ohaji/Egbema powered by Walter Smith (for petroleum products) and SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company (for gas production). It has never happened before, and this feat took place during his one year in office.
Water they say is life. But before now in Imo, it was seen as death because of the quality of water the people drank. The past administrations preferred to use the existing government water scheme at Otamiri as fish pond. Consequently, the Otamiri Water Scheme was left to rot until Governor Uzodimma came on board to resuscitate the project and even went ahead to enter into pact with UDSAID on how Imo people can benefit from clean drinkable water that is actually synonymous with life. Today, residents of Owerri metropolis now know the reason for establishment of the Otamiri Water Scheme in the first place.
Recently, Governor Uzodimma flagged off the Urban renewal of Owerri. There are too many roundabouts within the Owerri metropolis that cause gridlock that last as much as five hours on a daily basis. In the coming weeks the narrative will change because Ndi Imo have seen the prototype of what traffic management in an organized society looks like as they were unveiled during the flag off of the urban renewal projects recently by the governor.
Those who have been residing in Owerri in the past 10 years will tell you that some areas are no go areas during rainy season. Such parts of the city are synonymous with flash floods and consequently, low economic activities.
Just one year in office, Governor Uzodimma’s leadership magic has dealt with the floods as all the adjoining roads usually affected by flooding have been attended to with a drainage management and control system that is both unprecedented and never heard of in the history of Imo State since creation about 45 years ago.
The good news is that those who abandoned their homes in the flood prone parts of the state have all returned and economic activities have picked up once more in such places.
I am sure we know the state of these roads before now: Oparanozie St to Relief Market Road, Chukwuma Nwaoha Relief Market Road, Assumpta World Bank Road, Assumpta Roundabout to Concorde Junction, Dick Tiger- Egbu Junction road and Dick Tiger Aladinma Lake Nwaebere Road.
I do not intend to waste our time on the state’s anti- crime security outfit, “Operation Search and Flush” which Governor Uzodimma flagged off barely three months in office with 100 vehicles properly fitted with communication gadgets to track crimes and criminals in the state. There is no doubt that with the Operation Search and Flush working in tandem with the newly trained community police personnel in all the 27 local councils of Imo, our people can now sleep with their two eyes closed as Governor Uzodimma promised in his maiden address to them.
Governor Uzodimma’s shared prosperity government and his three R mantra of rehabilitation, reconstruction and recovery are alive and well. The gains recorded during his one year in office would not have been possible if proper attention was not paid to them.
From the automation of the payroll of civil servants that led to the saving of N2b a month, to the already concluded and ongoing reforms in the civil service, to the notion now in government circles that government business is serious business, there is no stopping the movement for good governance in Imo State.
Gains have been recorded one year down the road. More gains not doubt will be recorded as years succeed years in this administration and those who have eyes to perceive clearly such gains will be happy that it is not by accident that this government is tagged “Government of Shared Prosperity.”
From the day of his swearing-in on January 15, 2020, Governor Uzodimma was well aware where the journey to deliver on his mandate is headed. He knows it will not be an easy task but clearly he understands where the governance journey is taking him and the good people of Imo State to.
Forget the blackmail, propaganda, slander and unmerited uncountable misdemeanour by few political traducers, Governor Uzodimma surely and steadily will keep his eyes on the ball in the succeeding years.
What is important is that he has used the one year in office to lay the foundation for good governance and Imo people will in the years to come behold in excess the tangible things that go side by side with good governance.
Like him or hate him, Governor Uzodimma has demonstrated capacity for strategic thinking on what constitutes good governance. That he is loved by many is because he has shown to be truthful to them and puts himself in their position. He has not seen leadership as an opportunity to defraud the people, deceive the people and undermine the interest of the people. Rather, he sees it as an opportunity to uplift the weak through service.
Perhaps we play down on the intangibles that are associated with Governor Uzodimma during his one year in office. Never in the history of our state of late has a governor synergized the three arms of government – executive, legislature and judiciary – as key to a strengthened democratic governance process.
The negligible voices on local radio stations in Owerri who delude themselves with the “Show us what you have done” or “Uzodimma has not done anything” fad ought to be reminded that while the majority will have their way, the minority will have their say.
One year is not four years and a child born a year ago can hardly have all the features of an adult. The same is applicable in governance/government.
Our confidence is that the man on the driver’s seat understands the reason for the task on his shoulders and he will give it his best shot. And that is exactly what he is doing regardless of the thinking of the naysayers. Like he will always say, when the time comes we will all tighten our seat belts and enjoy the flight when it enters its cruising level.
For Governor Uzodimma, his second year, definitely, will witness a great improvement on the first year in all areas of governance, more so, when one remembers that on his shoulder, today, rests the leadership of South East All Progressive Congress (APC).
.Oguwike Nwachuku is Chief Press Secretary/Special Adviser (Media) to Governor Uzodimma.