The major setback to the development of Imo State over the years has been incompetent, visionless leadership. Since its creation in 1976, Imo has largely been “blessed” with lacklustre leaders with no vision, no mission, and no understanding of what the real issues are. Of course, if you do not understand what the problems are, if you do not understand the urgency of the moment, how do you even begin? You’d only continue to grope in the dark.
Especially since the return to civil rule in 1999, the politics of Imo State has been dominated by ex-fraudsters (419-ers), people without character or competence, people with no track record of achievement, people who had no verifiable means of livelihood before they went into politics and whose daily survival now depends entirely on how close they are to the magnetic field of political power. Politics is their sole business and they would do everything to stay relevant, whether as godfathers or godchildren. They have nowhere else to go because, in the first place, they had no strong foundation before politics happened to them. The result is that 42 years after its creation, Imo remains backward on many fronts.
When Imo State was created in 1976, Ndubuisi Kanu, then a young commander, was sent to steer its affairs. It was with high spirits that he arrived in Owerri, the capital of the new state, on March 15, 1976 to confront the Herculean task ahead of him. And he confronted it frontally. Within record time, he had laid the necessary foundations for statehood and produced a master plan for the development of the capital territory. Today, history remembers him for the link roads with good drainages he constructed within Owerri metropolis, creation of 21 local government areas in the state, and establishment of the Imo Broadcasting Service (IBS).
His successor, Commodore Adekunle Lawal, established the Standard Shoe Factory, Owerri and Oguta Motel. Col. Sunday Adenihun who came after Lawal established Imo Newspapers Ltd (which published Sunday Statesman and Nigerian Statesman). It was also in his tenure that the College of Technology (now Federal Polytechnic) Nekede commenced operations.
So, by the time Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe came on board as the first elected governor of Imo State in 1979, he had a solid foundation to build on, and he capitalised on the modest achievements of his predecessors to build and expand an industrial base for Imo State. To Mbakwe’s credit is the establishment of Progress Bank (now distressed), Concorde Hotel Owerri, old Imo State University (now Abia State University), and Imo Television Authority (ITV). He also initiated the building of Aluminium Extrusion Industry at Inyishi, Resin and Paint Industry at Aboh Mbaise, Cardboard Packaging Industry at Orlu, Imo Flour Mills Ltd., Aluminium Product at Naze, and the Imo Modern Poultry at Avutu.
Mbakwe, who till today is regarded as the best governor the state has ever had, was re-elected in 1983 but the Muhammadu Buhari coup of December 31, 1983 cut short the Second Republic. The military came on board. Sadly, the succeeding military governments in Imo State did not share in Mbakwe’s industrialisation dream. From Ike Nwachukwu to Allison Madueke to Amadi Ikwechegh to Anthony Oguguo, through Evan Enwerem’s 22 months of civilian interregnum, to James Aneke, and Tanko Zubairu who handed over to Achike Udenwa in May 1999, Mbakwe’s industrial expansion dream suffered a death blow. Within this period, 1984-1999, there was no effort to further Mbakwe’s industrialisation dream and so the significant gains of the previous administrations took a big dip. Social infrastructure in the state collapsed and state-owned industries died an untimely death. Adapalm, Standard Shoe Industry, Avutu Modern Poultry, etc decayed beyond recognition. Roads, hospitals and schools dilapidated. Amaraku Power Station and the Resin Paint Industry were auctioned off. IBC and Imo Newspapers became ghosts of their old selves. Concorde Hotel became abode for rats and cockroaches.
Perhaps the only event of note during these dark years was the laying of foundation for the Imo Airport, which was built by Imo people themselves.
When Achike Udenwa was sworn in as governor in 1999, he promised “to rehabilitate our infrastructure, provide basic amenities, ensure social justice and create job opportunities through reactivation of our ailing industries and encouragement of private sector investment”. He claimed that under his administration, the state was “witnessing a great renaissance, a silent but sure-footed revolution that is rapidly transforming Imo State and restoring its lost glory, every minute, every hour and every day”. However, the reality on ground shows that Udenwa’s administration was a far cry from the revolution that Imo needed, and still needs.
Then came Ikedi Ohakim with his empty promises. When he was inaugurated in 2007, Ohakim said he was transforming Imo into a one-city state, a modern model state, and tourist destination of the world. He said he was constructing the most ambitious road project ever in the history of Nigeria, a 150-km Boulevard called Imo Interconnectivity Multilane Freeway, which would pass through 500 communities, 19 LGAs, 39 markets with 13 electronic tollgates and connecting Oguta Resort and the entire state. In the end, most of the projects never left the architectural drawing board. Those that did became permanent money-guzzlers and conduits for looting the treasury.
Even Rochas Okorocha, whose coming to power on May 29, 2011 through an unprecedented mass support was termed ‘The Imo Revolution’, has left a sour taste in the mouths of Imo people. Seven years down the line, the hopes and expectations elicited by Okorocha’s election lie in scattered heaps like ruins of a demolished building.
As another election season dawns, and as many candidates declare their intention to join the Imo governorship race in 2019, hopes are high again. So far, over 30 candidates have declared for the governorship race. Sadly, majority of these aspirants do not even understand what the issues are. They are not telling us why they want to be the governor of Imo State in 2019 and what experience they are bringing with them; they are not telling us what they would do in the areas of healthcare, education, security, agriculture, employment creation; they are not saying what they would do with all the unfinished and abandoned projects littering the entire Imo space; they are not telling us how they would settle the backlog of debts owed by the state in the form of unpaid salaries and pensions, contractors’ fees and so on; they are not talking about how to raise Internally Generated Revenue in a period where states are finding it difficult to meet their financial obligations owing to shrinking federal allocation; they are not talking about nonexistent public utilities, especially potable water; they are not talking about how to engender rural development by making the local governments functional again.
Rather, they have latched onto Governor Okorocha’s non-performance and his plot to install his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, as his successor – a move that has been aptly tagged “incestuous democracy” by the indefatigable Archbishop AJV Obinna of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri. It has become their campaign slogan.
Now is still morning. It is still time enough for Imo people to put their eyes and ears on the ground, research each candidate, ask the hard questions and, when the time arrives, elect that governor who would pull the state out of the doldrums and reverse the de-industrialisation that past administrations have inflicted on it.
Chuks Oluigbo
