By Declan Emelumba
Senator Uzodimma’s unprecedented landslide victory at the recently held gubernatorial elections in Imo State could not have taken any serious political watcher by surprise. This is for the simple reason that he started working hard for his re-election the very day he was sworn in for the first term as Governor of Imo State on January 2020. The expectations were so high, especially from the populace who saw him as a liberator from the tyranny of the past. Having also fought a tortuous legal battle to reclaim his filched mandate, Governor Hope Uzodimma knew that he had to post a spectacular performance to sustain the confidence of the people and erase any doubt concerning his integrity and capacity to govern. It was, therefore, not surprising that he hit the ground running by swiftly tackling the developmental challenges facing the state. From a decayed civil service to decrepit infrastructure, especially roads, Uzodimma moved swiftly to recover the years the locusts had eaten.
Governor Uzodimma quickly unfolded his prosperity agenda encapsulated on reconstruction, rehabilitation and recovery by tackling the dilapidated roads while at the same time working on the battered psyche of the people who had been denied basic amenities for so long a time. It was refreshing that the new administration started off by doing away with the corrupt past through the standardisation and automation of the civil service which ensured prompt payments of salaries and pensions.
As the Caterpillars were all over the place working on the roads from Owerri to the rural communities, Uzodimma extended his attention to the health and education needs of the people. The 305 health centres in the state received the much needed attention, and were enabled to provide free health services to the rural dwellers through mobile clinics. State-owned primary schools in the 305 wards were also rehabilitated.
It is interesting to note that prior to the coming of Uzodimma, the capital city of Owerri had no public water supply. He changed that unacceptable situation. Some of the state-owned industries had become moribund, especially Adapalm Nigeria Limited - a major income earner that was widely described as the goose that lays the golden eggs. Today, Adapalm has come alive again, employing hundreds of Imo youths and boosting the economy of the state. Other abandoned industries are receiving similar attention. As expected, Imo people took notice of this.
They also took notice that the youths were being taken care of through a variety of ambitious youth empowerment programmes that saw most of them being taken out of the pit of unemployment. Apart from creating a separate Ministry for the initiative, Uzodimma ensured that the state government trained and equipped these youths with skills and subsequently empowered them to be self employed and potential employers of labour. He capped it by introducing the youths to digital skills under the Skillup Imo project. Today, more than 20,000 of them are proficient in digital economy, while the project targets to train up to 300,000 beneficiaries. That revolutionary act by the governor also caught the attention of Imo people who saw their sons and daughters being pulled out of poverty.
He also saved transporters and traders from poverty through his road revolution which spanned through the three senatorial zones of the state. Uzodimma refused to discriminate between federal and state roads because he argued that Imo people use all the roads in the state. His three signature road projects, namely Owerri-Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe and MCC Toronto roads, are a testament to what a committed administration can do over a short period of time. He is also working on other critical roads that offer huge economic benefits to the people of the state. At the last count, he had delivered 100 good quality roads across the state. There is at least a new five- kilometre road in all the 27 local government areas of the state.
Uzodimma didn't end there. He heard the cries of the people over the despoliation of the state by past administrations. He embarked upon the recovery of state-owned and private assets which were seized by the previous administrations. He recovered K. O. Mbadiwe University at Ogboko. He recovered the vast land and property of Alvan Ikoku Federal University of Education which was appropriated by the past administration. He recovered other assets which the owners had lost every hope of getting back, and returned them to the rightful owners. With that action alone, people knew they could trust Uzodimma and his government.
The governor also secured the confidence of the school leavers and students of Imo State when after the recovery of the KO Mbadiwe University went ahead to establish the Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, thus bringing the number of state-owned universities to three. Currently, the government is funding five institutions of higher learning, thus creating more opportunities for the education of Imo youths, creating employment for the people and boosting the economy of the host communities. Through his efforts, Imo State University Teaching Hospital, Orlu is back on track and the training and graduation of medical doctors which was hitherto moribund, has now resumed.
However, outside infrastructure, curbing of corruption, rehabilitation of the civil service through a a number of enduring reforms and the prompt payment of pensions and salaries, Uzodimma enthroned a democratic culture that inspired confidence in governance and ensured inclusiveness in government. In his appointments of officials, he ensured equity and balance. In the relationship with the three arms of government, he deferred to the Constitution by ensuring the separation of powers while still working together with both the other arms of government, namely the legislature and the judiciary. The House of Assembly complex was also completely rebuilt, thus paving the way for the honourable members to return to the assembly complex from exile. The unpaid salaries of judges were also paid, in addition to providing them with new official vehicles for their use.
He also went a step further to establish the Imo Stakeholders' Forum with whom he interacts periodically to share what is happening in the government, while allowing the members in turn gave him an update on the feelings of the people through a feedback mechanism. Members of the forum were drawn from past governors and speakers of the house of assembly, traditional and religious leaders, presidents general of town unions and representatives of market men and women. Using this medium, Uzodimma regularly felt the pulse of the people and responded accordingly. He also worked with the Imo Elders’ Council which rendered a similar service for the state.
Indeed, it was from the initiative of the Elders Council that the Imo Charter of Equity which prescribes the orderly transfer of power from one senatorial zone to the other, was enthroned. The Charter of Equity prescribed that since Uzodimma was running for his second and last tenure that only candidates from Orlu zone where he hails from should join the fray. The understanding is that after Orlu zone, power will now shift to Owerri and Okigwe zones. The idea is to ensure a rancour-free contest for power, while at the same time giving each zone the opportunity to produce the governor of the state .
The combination of these factors not only aided the victory of Uzodimma but greatly weakened the capacity of the opposition to even challenge him. Interestingly, the so-called political analysts forgot that just few months ago, the Governor's party, the All Progressive Congress, convincingly won almost all the 27 seats in the state House of Assembly. That was a clear confidence vote on the governor based on his programmes and policies. They also forgot that the governor' s aides who could be found in all the wards in the state campaigned vigorously for him using his projects in the wards as marketing tools.
The opposition's error of judgement was that they dissipated energy talking about insecurity in the state, which they created as a weapon for de-marketing the incumbent governor. Instead of campaigning as a united opposition, they were occupied by division and infighting in addition to their poor antecedents. The people could not trust them, and their clandestine plan to align with some officials of the Nigerian Labour Congress to blackmail the governor backfired.
Funny enough, when tens of groups were endorsing the governor for a second tenure based on his superlative performance, the opposition dismissed their position as political grandstanding. But the people walked their talk. Based on the performance of the governor and the Imo Charter of Equity, the election became a walkover for Uzodimma.
Now that the people have spoken loud enough, almost in unanimity, to re-elect Uzodimma, the least the opposition should do is to accept defeat gallantly because, by every account, he deserves the victory. And if his opponents are patriotic enough and are mindful of history, they should join hands with him and work to take Imo to the next level.
Emelumba is the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Imo state.