Most people in Imo State commend the new government in the state led by Governor Emeka Ihedioha for doing the needful, declaring a state of emergency on the dilapidated infrastructures that litter the nooks and crannies of the state. On Thursday, June 27, 2019, during the executive council meeting presided by the Deputy Governor, Hon (Engr.) Gerald Irona, the state government declared a state of emergency on some critical infrastructures in the state. The infrastructures included the Federal Polytechnic-Nekede-Ihiagwa-Obinze Road, Assumpta-Control Post axis, Mgbidi-Oguta Road, MCC-Toronto Junction, Aba Branch-Mbaise Road, amongst others. The state government also declared emergency operation on the Otamiri Water Scheme and approved N49.8M for the project, so that for first time in eight years Imo people can have water to drink from the taps.
As Imo people rolled the drums for the state government, some lackeys of the immediate past Governor of the state, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, tried to, as they say, pour sand into our garri. They wanted to kill our joy by attempting to twist the facts and change the narrative. First they claimed that the Otamiri Water Scheme project embarked upon by Governor Ihedioha was unnecessary and a possible scam, because, according to them, the former Governor had concluded the deal by paying a certain counterpart funding for the project with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). But facts proved them wrong.
The USAID water project does not have counterpart funding as part of the conditions. Thus, the former Governor could not have paid any counterpart funding, and of course, did not pay. The facts of that project are captured in my earlier article, THE TWISTED STORY OF OTAMIRI WATER SCHEME. Having failed with the story of the water project, Okorocha’s lackeys threw up another twist to it, with the claim that declaring a state of emergency on the infrastructures in the state amounted to a mockery on governance. This too is idletalk.
We do not need rocket science to know that the state of emergency declared on the infrastructures in the state has exposed to the world the lie the former Governor and his government fed the world with, how they brought down the heaven and how the state became better than Dubai under their watch. Systematically, the former Governor focused his lenses on beautiful scenes in some places, whereas beneath those scenes lie rottenness. In fact, Okorocha turned Imo State to a whitewashed sepulcher. But with Governor Ihedioha and his Deputy, Hon (Engr.) Gerald Irona, on the saddle, and with the declaration of state of emergency on the infrastructures in the state, the true picture of the Okorocha era has come to the fore and they are ashamed of it. They wished the declaration of a state of emergency on the infrastructures never came. This is the reason they are fighting tooth and nail to misinform the public on the declaration of a state of emergency on infrastructures in the state.
Could the state government have done something else? Why declaring a state of emergency on the infrastructures in the state? A governor declares a state of emergency on infrastructures when he believes that a disaster has occurred or is most likely to occur and the implications may be too severe, to warrant government’s intervention to stop the damage, alleviate the damage, loss or even hardship. Declaring a state of emergency on infrastructures by a governor enables him to speed up the assistance or intervention on the affected projects or communities. It enables the governor make funds available immediately for rescue operations. It may even enable the government seek assistance from the federal government or international agencies, depending on the magnitude of the challenge.
Put differently, declaring a state of emergency on infrastructures in the state means that the state government has prioritized or reordered its spending or project execution options and has now placed the affected projects on the top of its priorities with greater emphasis on quicker funding and delivery within a given time frame so as to stop further crisis. This means that the government takes this action when the projects pose danger to the people. Here comes what had been explained above, that the projects executed by Governor Okorocha are now deathtraps to the people, and that he left the state in ruins, contrary to his sweet tales.
Let us take, for example, the tunnels and flyovers constructed by the Okorocha government. Ordinarily, the Ihedioha led government would have continued with other projects. But the flyovers have caved in and may collapse on the people if urgent action is not taken by the state government. The tunnels have since been declared deathtraps by concerned professional bodies even while Okorocha was still in office. Besides, since Okorocha defied professional warnings and opened the flyovers and tunnels for public use, they have become security risks for road users. For their own safety the people have since abandoned the flyovers and tunnels. Should the Ihedioha government look on and pretend that all is well? No. As a government that is focused on delivering tangible projects and making the people happy, the Ihedioha led government in the state decided to reorder its spending and projects execution options by revisiting those projects. This is the reason the Governor closed the flyovers and asked COREN to conduct integrity test on them and advise the government accordingly. The state government had also during the Executive Council meeting on Thursday directed relevant authorities to produce the architectural designs of the tunnels and flyovers constructed by the Okorocha administration, as well as details of all civil works carried out by that administration.
The Federal Polytechnic-Nekede-Ihiagwa-Obinze and Assumpta-Control Post roads may serve as another illustration of the all-important nature of the government’s declaration of state of emergency on the roads and other infrastructures in the state. The Assumpta-Control Post axis leading to Port Harcourt Road and World Bank are some of the worst spots in the state. And to think that these roads are in the heart of the capital city where Okorocha was Governor for eight years. During the raining season the two axis of Assumpta-Control Post – the Port Harcourt Road side and the World Bank side – are cut off by heavy flooding. This affects both businesses and human beings who reside in those areas. For eight years the past government did nothing on the roads. Now they pose great dangers to both businesses and human beings, so much that the government must take urgent action.
The Federal Polytechnic-Nekede-Ihiagwa-Obinze Road is another major road that needs urgent attention. The Ihedioha led government was right to have placed this road among those on the top of its priority chart by including it among the roads that got the declaration of a state of emergency. Writing on the importance of the Federal Polytechnic-Nekede-Ihiagwa-Obinze Road, a youth leader from the area and former aspirant for the state assembly seat for Owerri West State Constituency under the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Fortune Akujuobi, recently called on the Governor to pay attention to the road. He noted that the Federal Polytechnic-Nekede-Ihiagwa-Obinze Road “is a very important road, aside from being the gateway to two great academic institutions – Federal Polytechnic Nekede and Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), it’s also the only pathway to the Police Training College, Nekede, and Emeabiam/Umuokpo Rubber Estate”. He added that the road “also serves as a connecting link between communities such as, Naze, Nekede, Ihiagwa, Eziobodo, Okolochi, Emeabiam/ Umuokpo and across to Umuekwune in Ngor Okpala. [The road] also connects Owerri West LGA to Eche in Rivers State”.
Mr. Akujuobi called the attention of the state government to the fact that many private and commercial motorists travel through the road to Port Harcourt in Rivers State on daily basis. He also decried the deplorable condition of the road, saying that “The deplorable condition of this all- important road has totally crippled sources of livelihood and economic activities in these communities, owing to lack of patronage, occasioned by the bad condition of the Federal Polytechnic-Nekede-Ihiagwa-Obinze Road”. It is shocking, therefore, that the Okorocha administration ignored this all-important road to the detriment of the people’s socioeconomic survival. But Governor Ihedioha is fixing things now, and this road is on the state of emergency list.
We may consider yet another road. This time around it is the road that leads to the community of the immediate past Governor Rochas Okorocha, with a bridge. On Tuesday, July 2, 2019, the Governor alongside the Deputy Governor visited the Mgbee Road and Mgbee Bridge that have completely collapsed before Governor Okorocha who was unable to fix it. This road and bridge was one of the shoddily executed projects by the Okorocha administration. It broke down sooner than it was constructed. Perhaps, the traditional ruler of Dimagu Autonomous Community and Chairman of the Ideato South Council of Traditional Rulers, HRH Eze G. Osuala, captured the condition of the bridge very well when he noted that “It is unbelievable that a structure like this was built without reinforcements”.
Former Governor Rochas Okorocha has been making frenetic efforts to cover these shoddily executed projects. He does not want the public to know that he had deceived them for eight long years. This is why his lackeys have taken over the media space shouting blue murder. While Okorocha goes about shouting wolf, Governor Ihedioha is focused on fixing things. On Tuesday, July 2, when the Governor visited the Power sub-station in Ideato South LGA, he effortlessly resolved the challenges that derailed the completion of the power sub-station in Ideato South. He also instructed that the road leading to the power station be opened up. Now the power project will be completed by the end of December 2019, to supply electricity to the people of Ideato Nation and their neighbours after eight years of darkness under their son and brother, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
One of the credits Governor Ihedioha has earned over a period of time is that he is an honest man. His word is his bond and he does not engage in trivialities. The Deputy Governor is also imbued with these traits. He is calm and calculating and speaks less but achieves much more. The Governor and his Deputy do not employ sweet talking as a tool to hoodwink the people while abandoning them to suffer. While giving his inaugural speech on May 29, 2019, at the Dam Anyiam Statdium, Owerri, shortly after their taking the oaths of office, the Governor told the people of the state that he would address the infrastructural challenges in the state. He vowed to “address the many years of infrastructural decay, poorly executed, and uncompleted projects that litter the state. We shall do the following in partnership with appropriate federal government agencies and the private sector”. He said he would “Introduce an integrated infrastructural development master plan that will include constructing quality roads, dualisation of the four major roads linking Owerri Capital Territory, namely; Owerri-Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe, Owerri-Umuahia and Owerri-Aba roads”. He is pretty much on it.
The people of Imo State have seen nothing yet from the new government in the state. Better things are yet ahead. The state government is keen on its resolve to rebuilding the state and giving the people a new lease of life. The Ihedioha administration is poised to setting a new table by actualizing for the state its first ever rail line. “The proposed Lagos-Benin-Onitsha-Owerri-Aba-Calabar rail line is critical to the economic development of the state, and we are committed to partnering with the federal government to actualize this project. We believe strongly that the realization of this project will ultimately develop our state as a multi-modal transport hub for the region”, he said in his inaugural speech.
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