By Echezona Okechi
Dr Hilary Okeke, philosopher, theologian, Canon lawyer and the brilliant Catholic bishop of Nnewi Diocese in Anambra State, could not have put it better. According to this urbane intellectual, Dr Chris Ngige, then the governor of Anambra State, was felix culpa, a happy mistake. What Right Reverend Okeke meant was that the manner in which Dr Ngige came into office in 2003 was fundamentally faulty, but it ended up making Ngige work most effectively. Ngige turned Anambra in a new direction, and ever since the state has been growing from strength to strength. I was a member of the state House of Assembly then, and can authoritatively assert that Ngige set the standard by which every governor in the state would be judged. Peter Obi built on Ngige’s legacy, and he was exceptionally lucky that there were unprecedented revenues under his leadership; oil sold at an all-time of $147 per barrel when Obi was in office. He made good use of the money, unlike many of his contempoararies.
Now, the present administration in the state is working in a way that makes observers wonder if Anambra is free of the ongoing recession in the country. For instance, despite being owed some 43 billion naira for federal roads reconstructed in the state, the administration announced recently that it would start the rehabilitation of the awfully failed portion of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway which begins in Umunya and stretches to Nteje and Awkuzu, a distance of 15 kilometres. I drove on this road only yesterday (December 6), and found massive work going on. Interestingly, the state government calls it mere palliative work.
Whether palliative or comprehensive work, what matters is that the road is in such a state that most commuters who have been using the single-lane Old Onitsha-Owerri Road, now use it (even the old road has over the years been maintained by the state government). This is the first time motorists have used this highway in some three years because it has been in a state of utter disuse; much of it was overgrown by weeds and even trees. So, it is understandable that as we were driving on the road, both drivers and passengers were praying for the leadership of the state. Two civil servants who were hitching a ride with me kept on saying, “Truly, Willie is working”, a reference to Governor Willie Obiano. Chief Obafemi Awolowo once remarked that the greatest legacy a leader can bequeath is to have his or her name etched in gold in the hearts of the people.
It is significant that the Anambra State government is continuing the rehabilitation of federal roads at a time of recession which has seen many state governments abandon the provision of infrastructure. In fact, 28 out of 36 states in the country cannot pay salaries. Osun State is often cited as an example because the Yoruba are mostly activists who have a good sense of justice. Hence, people tend to forget that an oil-rich state like Bayelsa is owing civil servants for six months and local government employees for 12 months. The state university has been under lock and key since this year because its lecturers have been on strike since January on account of non-payment of salaries and allowances.
Truth be told, it is not only states which are finding it difficult to provide basic infrastructure. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has revealed that his ministry’s contractors have not been paid for three years. The present administration is finding it difficult to pay for contracts it awarded because its revenue projections have turned out to be too optimistic. The petroleum industry which is the backbone of the nation’s economy is in a mess. The government’s attempt to raise funds from sale of the nation’s assets to finance the 2016 budget was abandoned in the face of popular opposition. Its attempt to borrow $30b to reflate the economy has not been popular, either.
Mr Fashola says leading multinational firms like Reynold Construction Company (RCC) which is doing a very impressive job on the Onitsha-Asaba-Benin-Ore-Sagamu-Lagos Road are doing so based on goodwill. Whereas multinational firms have the resources to work and wait for long before they could get paid, indigenous companies are mostly one-man businesses which have very limited resources. Consequently, many roads being rehabilitated by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) which uses the services of local firms have since been abandoned.
Against this background, very few states like Anambra which still provide infrastructure on a massive scale and even maintain federal roads even when they are owed fortunes for federal roads done over the years deserve commendation. In the case of Anambra State, it receives one of the least allocations from the federation account monthly. Yet, the state now has six state-of-the art bridges, with the three in the state capital of Awka. They resemble the beautiful Ikoyi-Lekki Bridge in Lagos built during the governorship of Mr Fashola.
If Anambra State could be working and developing in various areas in a way which would seem to suggest that it is free of the current recession in the country, there is no justification for most other states to look like failed states through nonpayment of salaries and contractors as well as abandonment of basic projects. All they need do is become prudent with their resources. The President Muhammadu Buhari Administration has on two occasion provided bailout funds to states. Anambra did not get, nor did it apply because it was doing well its regular resources. It is good that states like Kogi have sent delegations to Awka to learn how the Anambra State government has been achieving so much with very limited resources.
The least the Federal Government should do to encourage financially prudent states is to repay them for the huge funds spent on the maintenance of federal roads in their territories. Anambra will look different anytime it is reimbursed the N43b the Federal Government is owing it for fixing federal roads in the state which were in a mess.
Hon Echezona, a former member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, sent this piece from Abuja.
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