Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State will be the first “common and ordinary” governor in the history of Nigeria and will be the quintessential servant leader, Godwin Adindu, chief press secretary to the governor, has said.
Adindu said Governor Ikpeazu is set to cause a revolution in Nigeria as far as the person and the office of the governor is concerned as he will demystify the office and the person of the governor and remove all the ceremonies and chivalries that disconnect the leader from the people. “He is the common governor for the common man. He emerged from the people and will remain with the people,” declared Adindu.
Adindu, who operational direction of the newly inaugurated governor, said that his principal would remove all the mystique and simulations that have become customary with the office in Nigeria and make the person of the governor appear like a transcendental being and would also drop all the frivolities and trivialities that distract the leader from the major call, like chieftaincy titles, unnecessary awards and social recognition. “He will remain available, approachable and accessible,” Adindu emphasized.
“He is not going to be a media creation. His personality in governance will be created by the three values of work, service and performance and these will be the parameter for evaluating him at the end of the day,” he said, adding that Governor Ikpeazu’s reputation will derive from his capacity to achieving the afore-listed values.
Adindu also noted that as a delegate lacks the capacity to delegate, Ikpeazu as the delegate of the people will not delegate his duties and responsibilities, but will personally take charge and supervise all projects, direct all commissions and oversee all works to ensure that things are done to his utmost satisfaction and for the general good of the people.
It would be recalled that Ikpeazu had earlier directed that the appellations, ‘His Excellency’ and ‘Executive’, be dropped in all official and informal communication with him, preferring to be simply addressed as “Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, Governor of Abia State.”
Ikpeazu would also want all public communication to be concentrated on the work and policies of the state and not on the person of the governor and has, therefore, directed all contractors, political groups, individuals and party loyalists not to put his portrait on billboards, posters and signages, but to only use the pictures of ongoing projects in their billboards and posters.
He further directed the general public to remove all congratulatory posters and election billboards littering the environment as “these public posters are defacing the environment of the state.”
Ikpeazu charged the people of the state to be partners with government in ensuring a healthy and beautiful environment.
Zebulon Agomuo
