WHEN Dr. Chinweoke Mbadinuju (Odera)
became the Governor of Anambra State on
May 29, 1999 at the beginning of the
fourth republic, after defeating Prof. A.B.C. Nwosu in the PDP primaries, his
administration was nothing to write home about. Civil Servants were owed
salaries, teachers were not paid and retirees were owed their gratuities and
pensions.
The State Government under Odera was
deep into borrowing money from every bank with a branch in Awka. The loans were
not performing as no developmental projects and infrastructures were done. The
Government house was overgrown with weeds as workers were perpetually on
strike. It was squander mania all through.
By September 2002, unpaid teachers
had been on strike for a year and civil servants and court workers had been on
strike for months. Thus, Odera went down as the least performed Governor since
the creation of the state in 1991. Odera was kicked out of office in 2003, and
Dr. Chris Ngige took over the governance of Anambra State in controversial
circumstances, following the elections, but he quickly went to work.
While payment of salaries and roads
construction are not achievements per-se, as these are barest minimum
expectation, I will call them improvement on the existing structure and state
of affairs considering what Odera subjected the State to. Then came Governor
Peter Obi (Okwute) three years later after reclaiming his electoral victory in
court from Dr. Ngige. Not only did Okwute continue with paying salaries as and
when due, he cleared arrears of pensions and paid gratuities owed to retirees.
Despite all the road blocks he
encountered first to reclaim his mandate and subsequent impeachment by his
state legislature because he was prudent and saving money for the State, Okwute
hit the ground running. The following are some of Okwute’s list of
accomplishments while in office: *Okwute restored Anambra State to number one in
education from 25th he met it. He did this by returning schools originally
belonging to the missionaries and funded the missions.
The ones that did not belong to the
missionaries he made sure they were well funded, supplied them with equipped
computer labs with internet connections, provided vehicles, rehabilitated their
buildings and constructed new ones in addition. These made the environment more
conducive for learning and thus Anambra took the 1st position as reflected in
JAMB and WAEC results. *Okwute opened up the hinterlands not just concentrating
his development in Awka and the urban areas.
This made it possible for residents
to live in rural areas such as Ekwulobia, Uga, Achina, Isuofia, Ihiala, Okija,
etc. and work, commuting easily to the urban areas in minutes without stress.
*Owing to prudent management of resources, Okwute cut down drastically the cost
of governance, and positioned the state’s Internally Generated Revenue, IGR, to
be amongst the top three in the country, having the vision necessary to allow
the state make the best use of its human and material resources to be one of
the leading centres of commerce and industry in the country.
*Okwute built the security structure
of the state, equipped the police and the state vigilante groups and dealt a
great blow to the menace of criminals and kidnappers disturbing the peace of
the people of Anambra who fled the state. *Okwute sanitised the entire system
of governance and through his prudent management of resources left a total of
N75 billion in both cash and investments which was clearly documented and
handed over to his successor, Willie Obiano. There are lots of other
developmental projects too numerous to mention, those mentioned above would
suffice.
Now this is what I call real
improvement on the existing structure. Note that payment of salaries continued,
including over N35billion inherited in pension and gratuity arrears that Peter
Obi liquidated. Now comes Governor Willie Obiano, and in four years what have
we seen in Anambra? Apart from sustaining the security structure bequeathed to
him by Okwute, Obiano cannot point to any meaningful project or achievement he
made in Anambra State. He has abandoned all the projects initiated by his
predecessor, wasted money in building three flyovers in Awka when the roads to
inner towns and cities are being developed and maintained, and squandered the
N75billion left for him.
All we hear from Governor Obiano and
his cohorts is that Okwute never left any money, but only liabilities. Really?
A well-documented handover note was given to Obiano with the amounts and the
account numbers of the Banks where these monies were. Today, Anambra is now a
net borrower of funds and nothing to show for it. Anambra has lost its 1st
position in education, as school funding has been abandoned and quest for
excellence went out of the windows. No developmental projects are carried out
anywhere else in the state except maybe in Aguleri (Obiano’s hometown). Anambra
is fast losing all the gains and upward developmental trajectory the previous
administration put it on. Here is where Anambra people have a decision to make
come November 18, 2017.
We have to reject the politics of
“give us this day, our daily bread”. A government which taunts payment of
salaries as an achievement is dragging Anambra back. We have to take back our
state and refuse to be satisfied with a government that barely performs the
basic duties of government. Anambra people cannot accept a government that
cannot account for over N75billion received from his predecessor; a government
that cannot buy one vehicle or fund our schools, yet he bought over 400
vehicles for his campaign; a government that was handed a debt-free state but
is now a net borrower of funds, thus putting ndi Anambra back to slavery; a
government that constructed over 35 roads in his village and is yet to
construct one in any other village in Anambra; a government that abandoned all
major projects: government is a continuum; and a government that spent a lot of
State funds in media hype on supposed export of N5 million worth of Ugu and
Onugbu (bitter leaf) vegetables as well as processing an order for the export
of 10 million tubers of yam. Being seasonal crops, is the export of Ugu and
Onugbu a regular business or a one-shot, election-year hype? So who will fix
this broken State? Oseloka Henry Obaze, OHO, is here to fix it.
A lot of great things have been
written on OHO’s fitness and qualification for the office. All I can add is
that OHO is a man of integrity, accountable, and most importantly, a man with a
good heart. He understands governance as he has been in it at the local, state,
federal and international levels, as such he understands the pains of the
people. A man with a humble beginning who understands that government must work
for the people so the people can flourish and make better use of their God
given talent.
To this end, OHO has articulated his
deliverables summarised as the OHO compact to ndi Anambra thus: Health –
Provide first responder (EMS/EMT), mandatory emergency and charity care.
Education – Free education up to JS3, support special needs school Security –
Reinforce kidnap laws, support mobile and community policing, crime report
reward Youth Empowerment – A niche skill acquisition centre, train 100 youths
on digital space, establish youth chamber of commerce.
Agriculture – Subsistence farmers
support group, tools and equipment rental, mechanised farming. Industry –
Revamp oil/gas sector, incentivise entrepreneurs in SME clusters Infrastructure
– Upgrade and maintain existing ones, heavy haulage routes, open database on
land ownership, intercity light rail system. Employment – Job fairs/placement
programme, Artisan Certification/license, formalise street vending, support
mom/pop stores.
Investment/Savings – Sustainable
development goals (SDG) driven investments, Diaspora direct projects, and
direct foreign investors. The above is not exhaustive and you can view/read in
details the OHO compact and manifesto at
http://oho.ng/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/THE-OHO-Compact-Mx.pdf. Our people
yearn for good governance and good governance comes with a very good quality
leader. If ndi Anambra want to sustain the growth trajectory put in place by
Okwute, then the decision come this November 18th is very easy and clear.
They should look no further as God
has provided them with a highly qualified leader in OHO. Governor Obiano has
nothing to lose if he loses this election, likewise, OHO and other candidates.
However Anambra people have a lot to lose if we don’t make the right choice. It
is already broken and OHO will fix it. Mr. Chuma Ozowalu, a citizen of Anambra
State and Certified Public Accountant wrote from San Antonio Texas, US.
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