Imo in dire need of rescue

When Rochas Anayo Okorocha was sworn in as governor of Imo State on May 29, 2011, his emotion-laden inaugural speech punctuated with elaborate Bible quotations raised the hopes of many that at last Imo was again on the path of steady progress. The reasons for the high hopes are still here with us. Thirty-eight years after its creation, Imo remains backward on all fronts, due largely to lacklustre leadership. Apart from a semblance of sterling performance here and there, the state has been very unlucky with its leaders.

When the 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 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 events of note during these dark years were the marriage of ITV and IBS to form Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC), the reduction of the number of ministries from 17 to 9, the establishment of Imo Transport Corporation (ITC) and the State Technical Committee of Privatisation and Commercialisation (TCPC), introduction of Survival Levy and Imo Formula, and laying of foundation of 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”. In his address at a town house parley organised by the Centre for Leadership and Policy Studies in Owerri on March 18, 2002, Udenwa claimed: “Today, with the return to democracy and the advent of my administration, I can say it loud and clear that Imo is on the march again. Under my administration, we are 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 everyday!” 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 introduced Imo Rural Roads Maintenance Agency (IRROMA) and promised to grade 300 roads in 30 days. 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 will pass through 500 communities, 19 LGAs, 39 markets with 13 electronic tollgates and connecting Oguta Resort and the entire state. He promised to dredge the Nworie River, to establish Agro Nova Farm Project, Imo Airline, Oak Refinery at Ohaji/Egbema, the Oguta Wonder Lake Resort and Conference Centre, among others. Four years after those promises, most of the projects never left the architectural drawing board. Those that did became permanent money-guzzlers and conduits for looting the treasury.

It was, therefore, only natural that hopes were high when Okorocha emerged in 2011 through an unprecedented mass support. So high was the euphoria that many analysts termed his election ‘The Imo Revolution’. And at his inauguration, Okorocha, riding on the mood of the moment, waxed lyrical. He said he was on a rescue mission and claimed he would wipe off Mbakwe’s records. “Today, the Lord has loosened the captivity of Imo people. Today is indeed the day of freedom, the day of emancipation, the day of resurrection. I know you expect so much from me. I know you believe in me. I know you believe I can deliver. And I promise I will deliver. If the only reason that I will be poor in this life is to serve my people without being corrupt, then I declare myself a poor man from today onwards,” he pontificated.

Three-and-a-half years down the line, and as his tenure gradually winds down and Imo people have the privilege of looking back the way they have travelled, the hopes and expectations that Okorocha’s election elicited seem to be lying in scattered heaps like ruins of a demolished building. As the scales fall off people’s eyes, they seem to realise that, apart from the epileptic free education policy and uncompleted road projects in almost every corner of the state, Imo is far from rescued.

So, the search for a messiah continues. As the parties conclude their primaries and governorship candidates emerge, it is time for Imo people to put their eyes and ears on the ground to elect that governor who would pull the state out of the doldrums and reverse the de-industrialisation that past administrations have inflicted on it. Who would that person be?

Chuks OLUIGBO