Opinion: Imo: 100 days after Ohakim

Posted by admin Headlines, Imo, State News Sunday, October 2nd, 2011

The character of any government is defined by its vision. Encapsulated in the vision are the needs of the people purposely sifted from the wants of the society. Thus, the tradition of celebrating 100 days in office, which we copied from the Americans, is rooted in establishing the vision and focus of a government.

The concept of evaluation hinges on whether to hope for a miracle or resign to fate that the tenure would never go well. Admitted that some leaders are late risers while others hit the ground running as President Jonathan promised, the bottom line is to watch the path being taken by the leader. While conceptualisation and execution of programmes of governments differ, the indices for measurement of success remain the same.

In Imo State, attempting to compare the immediate past administration of Chief Ikedi Ohakim and that of the incumbent, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, would not be fair to the latter. The former spent full four years while Okorocha is just completing the traditional 100 days in office.

When Ohakim assumed office in 2007, under a different party from his predecessor, peace and stability of Imo State were upper most in his mind. His vision was to build an inclusive society where every person from Imo State would be a stakeholder. He never lost sight of the fact that government is a continuum; that procedures and processes have to be followed in conducting government businesses. In that regard, he retained most of the commissioners from his predecessor and went ahead to form a broad-based government compising people from various strata of the society.

Now, take a look at Imo after 100 days that Ohakim left. Government has been personalised and reduced to such a nepotistic level ever witnessed in Imo State. Again, Imo people seem to be in a state of war. Vengeance and vendetta are the order of the day. There is a deliberate effort by the present government to wage a war against the very people it is supposed to govern.

There is a vicious dichotomy of we and them, with the civil service highly polarised and the society left wondering if there now exist two states within one state. The dismantling of the legacies of the immediate past government is seen as a conquest, hence even the demolition of government structures within the Government House. The dissolution of statutory boards with secured tenures, sacking of 10,000 youths employed by Ohakim and suspension of 106 traditional rulers recognised by the government under Ohakim all point to a destabilisation plot aimed at re-writing history.

In Ohakim’s 100 days, he was resolute in changing the face of Owerri. He never demonised his predecessor Chief Achike Udenwa for turning Owerri, the capital city into huge refuse dump. Instead, he set about reclaiming Owerri to return it to its former glory as cleanest state capital in Nigeria. One hundred days after, Owerri which won a national award as the cleanest state capital under Ohakim has been taken back to Egypt. Heaps of refuse have resurfaced with furious vengeance. The Clean and Green sweepers, who kept Owerri streets sparkling had gone home after waiting in vain to be paid their monthly N10,000 stipend after Ohakim vacated office.

But that is life. Even in the area of education where the present governor declared himself a general of free education, he is yet to match Ohakim’s achievements in that sector within the first 100 days in office. In journalism, it is said that facts are sacred while comments free. Ohakim built a model classroom block in each of the 27 local government areas within his first 100 days in office.

But for Okorocha, there is nothing wrong in going-on with a good idea, but the point is that the general is yet to roll out a plan for execution. Asking students in senior secondary schools not to pay school fees is not where free education ends. Unknown to many parents, education had been free in Ohakim’s days from primary to junior secondary schools.

However, what about the maintenance of standards in the schools? What about prompt payment of teachers’ salaries to motivate them? What about the collaborative synergy between the church and the government, which saw Ohakim returning some schools to the churches with a grant of N400 million? These are the issues that defined Ohakim’s vision for education. Does the mere declaration of free education without procedures for sound implementation translate to a vision?

What about roads? The deputy governor of Imo State, Sir Jude Agbaso admitted in a live radio programme that the administration is still designing roads to be constructed, 100 days after being in office. Ohakim had completed no fewer than 10 asphalted roads before he clocked 100 days in office. He didn’t raise town-criers to disturb the peace of the people as we have now over “operation zero pothole in Owerri,” He quietly went about fixing the Owerri roads to the admiration of the road users, who became the town cries. Motorists in Owerri today keep wondering whether the resurfacing of half of Imo State University and MCC roads is what Okorocha’s government has to offer in operation zero potholes in Owerri.

While they are wondering, majority of the citizens are aghast regarding the resurgence of violent crimes in Imo State, especially the spate of kidnappings. Nobody is suggesting that the governor is not alive to his responsibilities as the chief security officer of the state. The worry is that why the rush in disbanding the new face vigilante set up by the previous government as it had established and entrenched itself as a capable organ in fighting crime in the local governments?

Without a credible alternative, didn’t government envisage that the criminals would exploit the existing lacuna to re-launch an offensive against the society? That exactly is what vision would have done; adding value to governance, through stability.
That is what Ohakim did, by preserving the security arrangements on the ground before he took time in consultation with the security agencies to reorganize the entire security.

•Ikeogu can be reached at ikenwawar@yahoo.com
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