advertisement

obenox@hotmail.com Padua, Italy

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE TO YOUR FRIENDS

IMO STATE: AFTER THE DELUGE - THE GOVERNOR-ELECT'S BURDEN

lectoral victory in Nigeria is an act of God! You risk getting branded an atheist if you refuse to subscribe to this. After the 2007 elections Nigerians were left with no choice than adopt the old doctrine of meliorism: in future we shall get it better. Grand optimists!

However, in Imo State, that electoral victory is an act of God makes some, or more sense, when one considers the trend of the past gubernatorial elections in the state. Coming straight to mind is the NRC victory over the SDP during the short-lived period of transition to democracy of the early 1990's. Then the SDP was the grassroots party in the state but at the end of the day the NRC took the governorship slot. Imo people witnessed a similar drama during the April 28 gubernatorial elections in the state.

Congratulations Chief Ikedi Ohakim, the Imo State governor-elect. However, this congratulatory line has this frantic message attached to it: before you celebrate your victory, do please embark on a one-week retreat on the theme: RECONCILIATION. You ought to know better than many that the road you are about to travel is laden with people with frayed nerves. You could not have been party to the political upheavals that lately rocked the state hitherto reckoned with as one of the most peaceful in Nigeria; but your first test as an emergent leader must be your degree of success in reconciling these political big-wigs before you can afford to unleash your leadership prowess on the state.

The task of reconciliation is made easier for you by one factor: throughout the period of political disagreements in the state, not many came across your name as a big player in the debate. Many in Igboland cannot even interprete the meaning of one of your names - Ohakim. My neighbour from the Southwest of Nigeria heard your name mentioned and started talking about Hakeem Olajunwon, the legendary basketball player. Unlike the names of others made more popular by the disputes, yours did not sound familiar to him, and to many stakeholders in the affairs of Imo State. This situation assigns to you the position of neutrality regarding the disputes and makes you better-equiped to play the much-needed role of mediator.

Mr. Governor-elect, remember that reconciliation is different from settlement. He who uses appeasements to settle discordant factions often ends up getting embroiled in the dispute; on the other hand, he who succedes in truly reconciling factions ends up earning the respect and admiration of not just the discordant parties alone, but of the by-standers as well. By the time you have pumped in enough adrenalin to soothe many of the recently jaded, political nerves in the state, the task of administering a complex state such as Imo becomes less cumbersome; and that paves the way for your remarkable objective of running an "administration .... driven by the highest ethical standards."

advertisement

The task ahead of you is unenviable but it becomes much less rigorous when you take note of this reality: in view of the high literacy rate in Imo State, the last eight years of democratic governance and the power of information technology are fast taking the day-to-day tasks of decision-making regarding governance to the living rooms of the governed. The opinion of the masses in the state, as harnessed and presented by the state legislators, not the exotic interests of a few must therefore be your guide. This is the recipe for harmony between your team and a state legislature your party does not lead.

Mr. governor-elect, for many indigenes of Imo State, the following have turned out to be the core development areas yearning for your administration's urgent attention when you begin your tenure:

1. Electric Power: After nearly eight years in power, the out-going federal government is promising Nigerians that the electricity supply situation in the country shall improve when it hands over power to its successor. There is an elaborate energy policy the federal government has mapped out but many are getting skeptical of its realization. There are fears it may turn out waiting for Godot.

   You ought to be aware of the fact that one of the keys to poverty alleviation in the 21st century is the availability of efficient electric power supply mechanism. In view of this, you may therefore wish to revisit the discarded Amaraku Power Station; and, if the state's financial resources may accomodate them, establish other power plants in the state.

2. Food Security: Cassava, Yam and Maize have been the staple food and cash crops in Imo State. Incentives have to be given to our farmers to form farmers co-operatives so as to boost their production to ensure food security in the state. The state needs to be at the fore-front of the federal government's cassava export programme.

3. Education: Institutionalizing mass literacy and qualitative education in the state in the on-going drive to eradicate poverty and disease from the state shall be a hallmark on your tenure of office. To achieve this goal, prompt remuneration of teachers and up-dating/expansion of existing academic institutions or establishment of new ones need to be accorded utmost importance by your administration.

4. Health: I believe you agree with the sage that there is no life without water. You therefore need to vigorously pursue the sustainance of existing water supply schemes and provision of new ones where they do not yet exist in the state. Easy access to a functional hospital must be a right to any citizen irrespective of where he/she is resident in the state.

   The state's young university teaching hospital has to be strengthened to cope with specialist health-care delivery. If it elects at this early stage to concentrate its expertise on becoming a centre of excellence on the diagnosis and treatment of a few specified ailments and gradually gets recognition for that, it may not be long before the teaching hospital turns out to be a wealth creator for the state. Afterall, about two decades ago, only a few persons could have imagined the current trend where patients from many parts of the world, moreso, from Europe and the Americas, troop to Indian hospitals for diagnosis and treatment of complex human ailments.

5. Tourism: On the global turf, tourism has since taken over industrial output and availability of natural resources as the greatest generator of wealth and foreign exchange for nations. Imo State has long been acknowledged by many as a tourism-friendly state. I therefore solicit you to make expanding the tourism infrastructures of the state a priority. I wish you a happy tenure of office.