One thing achieved by Gov Hope Uzodimma’s State of the State Address is the palpable feeling in Imo State today that it takes God intervening in the affairs of a State for the State to have a Governor totally committed to Public good. When this rare occasion happens, the leader prioritizes public interest and selfish aggrandizement is relegated completely. Despite the revisionist inclinations of Imo PDP, this is the situation today in our State.
Following the meticulous and sustained transparent governance of the Hope Uzodimma era, Imo State has gradually shaped up as a State where nobody, notwithstanding the height such an individual occupies in political or social standing, will ever take the State for a ride. There is, today, an upsurge in public confidence, so much so that Government business is seen as an enterprise where public interests are genuinely protected and the Government officials do not place any premium on their personal goals.
It has taken LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE as exhibited by our Governor, His Excellency Dist Sen Hope Uzodimma, to re-format and change the mentality of leadership towards the people and towards the patrimony of our State. Such never happened ever before in this State. No wonder Late Chief (Engr) Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu (Ahaejiahamba and immediate past PG of Ohaneze Ndígbo) told Imo people in one of the Stakeholders’ fora that we should all sleep with our two eyes closed, that Imo State patrimony was in a safe hand.
It is a huge credit in the Governor’s record that in his sixth year in office, he has not appropriated 1 Square Metre of land to himself using his privileges as a Governor, but has tirelessly and through due processes, recovered massive estates (Imo patrimony) that originally belonged to Imo State but were illegally converted to private ownerships! The digitalization goal of land administration is one legacy of transparency that this Government will bequeath posterity.
It has taken a coordinated strategic visionary journey from the ongoing Urashi Dredging Project, through the location of a functional Naval Base at Oguta, the ancillary Power Project via Urashi Electricity Company of Imo State and the innumerable value chain benefits, the unprecedented infrastructural developments competent enough to match the visionary innovations, to the quality reconstructions, rehabilitation and recoveries of Public institutions, Viz: hospitals, schools, the ongoing IICC masterpiece at Owerri Warehouse Junction, the new flyover, roads, etc in Imo State, to make the boldest statement that governance is a serious Public Business. This was what the state of the State Address was all about. It was not an audit occasion. It was a transparent records-showcasing occasion to tell Imo people what the Government of Shared Prosperity has done in six years of statecraft.
While the above truths remain incontrovertible about the 3R Government of Shared Prosperity, the dexterity, focus and willful courage with which the Government confronted the absurdities of some bizarre criminal effronteries, through legitimate means and with due processes – through thick and through thin – reserves a special acclaim for the dramatis personae in Imo State historical books.
I wish Imo PDP realizes this and stops hiding behind their one finger, seeking audit when they are yet in tatters. Auditing is done at the very end. A Government that has made transparency and accountability its main thrust, calling stakeholders together for more than 8 times in six years and engaging in uncensored phone-in Radio programs, can never be said to have any skeletons in its cupboard.
Today, the upsurge in public confidence in Government is a pointer to the fact that the journey which Imo State began in 1976 is gradually, reliably and eventually gaining traction in purpose and visionary considerations.
One new Project (to be delivered this year!) which further emphasizes the patriotic, visionary, selfless, courageous and public-spirited devotion of the 3R Government of Shared Prosperity is the Light Up Imo Project. Pathetically however, the Imo PDP did not acknowledge the huge industrial cum economic prospects which the Light Up Imo Project portends for our State. As a Party notorious for “sharing the money”, all they understand as accountability in a State of the State Address was “Naira and Kobo”. The most preposterous aspect of the Lancelot cum Imo PDP selective auditing was that they deliberately closed their eyes to the drastic reduction in Imo State debt burden despite the fact that Gov Hope Uzodimma provided the figures – reducing a debt of ₦259B to ₦99B! They also deliberately ignored the feat of raising Imo IGR from a paltry ₦400M to over ₦4B! These can not be ways of offering opposition to Statecraft. It was mischievous.
The business of Government is the provision of solutions to human problems. Today, a comprehensive health insurance scheme is in place for Imo people. Rather than commend what they could not offer, they remained fixated on on the paltry subscription fee of ₦15,000.00 for a whole year. And Imo people have dissociated themselves from the Imo PDP delusion.
The gigantic strides recorded by the Governor of Imo State, His Excellency Dist Sen Hope Uzodimma as eloquently presented in the last state of the State Address and for which he got an overwhelming ovation and even a formal vote of confidence from the Imo State House of Assembly, remain indelible scribbles on the sands of time. Suffice it to state that posterity shall reverence Gov Hope Uzodimma, CON, for all his achievements for us all.
While the Imo PDP wails and kicks through their puppet-lone-hand clapper, the Governor still has the mandate to continue to take actions that keep making Imo State better.
By the way, the state of the State Address was ended with a remarkable quote, Viz: “It is yet morning on the creation day.”
Let the Imo PDP wailing continue. They can cry me a River.
Arinze Nwokedi is the SSA to the governor on Public Enlightenment
