EXPRESSO BY STEVE OSUJI
Hope Uzodimma Was Here: One was in Owerri, Imo State recently and was pleasantly surprised that my favourite hotel now has adequate power supply. I have lodged intermittently in this serene, capacious facility since 2007.
That’s nearly 20 years.
But up until my last sojourn, the hotel was plagued with consistent electricity failure. Initially, it was power outages of the remorseless kind. It was as if a deranged kid in the power station was toying with the public power switch; flicking it off and on every ten minutes.
For instance, immediately there’s power failure and the hotel generator is switched on, public power is switched on again in a space of 5-10 minutes. This is like a vicious, cynical roulette. And this would go on for a whole day.
Indeed, it went on for over a decade. It was a most pernicious and unforgiving public work routine one ever experienced.
At a point, the hotel stopped putting on the air conditioning system in the daytime. They would only do so at night using the generators.
At my last visit early in the month, the receptionist was beside himself, announcing to me that they are now on Governor Hope Uzodimma’s Urashi Power grid. Now “our AC is on round the clock,” the young man enthused.
I was also elated, understanding the prospect of a prosperous time that would soon return to my old redoubt.
One can also see the fresh burgeoning of the New Owerri axis of the Imo State capital as the organic hospitality hub of the southeast. That part of Owerri already had a dense cluster of fine hotels, night clubs, eateries, lounges, up scale restaurants and supermarkets.
This area grew into what it is in spite of almost zero, and indeed, disruptive public power supply. With Uzodimma’s Urashi Electricity Company, this area will blossom into the economic power house of Imo State.
But the pricing of the energy must be deliberate with the motive of boosting the state’s economy and helping that natural hub to grow to its full potential. This way, Owerri will no sooner, become the hospitality capital of Nigeria with all the attendant economic benefits.
But beyond breaking the power jinx in Imo State to some extent, Governor Uzodimma has also accomplished some important infrastructure feats especially in the last three years.
He has indeed outperformed some of his predecessors, apart from only Chief Sam Mbakwe. With this power feat, we can easily say that Uzodimma Was Here!
Ironically, the last time any governor conceived off-grid power was during the era of Dee Sam Mbakwe in the early 80s.
STAR BOY ALEX OTTI:
There’s no doubt that the incumbent Abia State governor, Dr Alex Otti has proved to Nigerians that state governance can deliver far more than they have been getting in this dispensation.
Yours truly traveled to Uzuakoli, Abia State, some distance after Umuahia for a burial ceremony.
The trip starting from Isiala-Mbano was a bit rough until we crossed the boundary between Imo and Abia.
The transformation is transcendental. And that’s not hyperbolic. Well paved and dualized roads ushered us into Abia down to Abia Tower and all the way down to Uzuakoli.
Apart from this first hand experience, Governor Otti’s infrastructure upgrade all over Abia in the past three years has no comparison. He readily trumps all other governors across the country.
And it’s not only the urban roads. We have seen modern bus terminals and the one trending currently is the smart school. One was awed watching the documentary showing what a modern school looks like.
MBAH THE SPHINX RISING FROM THE ASHES OF A FLAWED MANDATE
A senior professional colleague operating from Enugu said over a year ago that Enugu people have been doing serial thanksgiving to God for giving them Peter Mbah. “We almost made a grievous mistake,” he said, lowering his tone.
Governor Mbah of Enugu has put up a decent performance in three years. He has proved that a serious governor can easily deliver and impact a state in just three years.
His urban renewal projects, roads infrastructure, schools, hospitals and transportation amenities mark him out as a serious and inspirational leader.
Indeed, it has been conjectured that both Otti and Mbah may have pushed Uzodimma into a difficult position, forcing him to brace up to work. It was the talk of the town that these two men delivered more in three years than Hope presented in six years.
But it’s most salutary that Uzodimma has bounced back to life and is bent on finishing strong. History may well remember him for good.
NONDESCRIPT SOLUDO AND NWIFURU
Since we seem to be x-raying SE governors, one really cannot report authoritatively on the performances of Governors Chukwuma Soludo (Anambra) and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi).
Soludo’s first four years was rather calamitous. He was like a fish out of water, thrashing about breathlessly. He didn’t quite seem to understand the job. Or shall we say it is beyond his ken.
He’s still thrashing (trashing if you prefer) about even in his second term not sure of the legacies he wishes to leave behind. Of course his Taiwan and Dubai campaign promises have long fizzled, showing him up as the vacuous bombast he truly is.
Governor Nwifuru on his part, seems like a pathetic case. The permanent scowl on his visage speaks of a young man eternally confused.
Said to be former Governor Dave Umahi’s mason who rose rapidly from bricklaying to Speaker of Ebonyi State House in a short span. Not satisfied, his godfather ensconced the rustic young man on the apex of state power – Government House. But he may have discovered to his utter pain that setting blocks is a bit different from setting up a state administration.
We may also make an exception that Umahi’s dark aura may be rubbing off badly on Governor Nwifuru.The optics out of Ebonyi are unsightly. Nwifuru may well be doing a bit but what we see mostly are clips of Umahi’s mammoth airport abandoned or used for church services and as a soccer pitch. These are heart-rending pictures.
A POOR DEVELOPMENT MODEL ALBEIT
In spite of the best efforts of Otti, Uzodimma, MBAH and indeed all the governors in Nigeria, their development model is poor and therefore, have left Nigerians stranded in perpetual poverty.
Have you wondered why in spite of the good deeds of governors like Otti, Babagana Zulum (Borno) Mbah and the rest, more Nigerians remain extremely poor and besieged by such vicissitudes of life like insecurity and poor standards of living.
OUTPUT OF LGAs IS BEST MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE
Unless the local government areas are pressed to operate the way they are structured to operate, Nigeria will never develop.
While the best governors may deploy state allocations and internally generated revenues at their whims and caprices, the real measure of development is the naira and kobo that gets to the grassroots; to the last man in every corner of the country.
Most, indeed, all Nigerian governors have failed over the years in the management of the funds accruing to the third tier of government. It is criminal that not one, yes, not one since 1999 has shown class in this respect.
Not one governor in the current dispensation (from 1999) has managed to account for LGA funds. Neither has anyone of them tried to organise the 3rd tier to operate according to their statutory requirements. Whether elected or selected is immaterial. Get them structured; fund them, supervise them!
LGAs are supposed to have a legislative council, annual budgets and projects outlay.
Their monthly federal allocations and IGR are supposed to be deployed to administer and develop their areas of jurisdiction. But this has not been the case in Nigeria since 1999.
Governors across the spectrum have simply allowed the 3rd tier to descend into atrophy. This column can wager that most of the LGAs are currently moribund and cannot deliver service to the people. Governors grab about 90 per cent of funds accruing to States and LGAs and play around with it according to their whims.
GOVERNANCE BY IMPULSE
The import of it all is that state governors are merely running their domains on impulse.
Dave Umahi, immediate past governor of Ebonyi state built a bogus airport that’s as good as abandoned today. Enugu to Abakaliki is almost a stone throw away. An airport in Abakaliki is therefore grandiose and misplaced.
In the same manner, the sprawling bus terminal in popular Oshodi, Lagos has never been put to viable use nearly a decade after it was built. Today it’s an eye sore, already falling apart. White elephant.
Otti’s smart school is great but it’s wrong-headed. What is needed in Abia (as in all states) is a gradual (graduated) education reform. Building a bogus and expensive smart school is like climbing a tree from the leaves.
Can these so-called smart schools be replicated in hundreds of communities across Abia? No. Not even in all the 17 LGAs?
So a phased reform ( fixing the basics) culminating into a state of the art smart schools in 5 to 10 years. How could any governor conceive of a smart school when primary and early education in Nigeria is comatose in all states?
It’s not only in the education sector. Most rural roads and back streets from Lagos to Kaura Namoda are untouched. Rural/primary health care is in limbo. Rural electric is gravy for the boys like Ayo Fayose, Ndudi Elumelu…etc.
All the governors in the land spend millions of dollars annually sponsoring things as foolish as religious pilgrimages. These are LGAs funds hijacked by governors and frittered away. No governor can impact an LGA like an LGA chairman!
Most Nigerian governors have proved to be haphazard and unstructured in carrying out projects. But even at that, you can only do so much and mainly in the urban areas.
However, every piece of space in a State is on an LGA. This means that it’s easy to cover every inch of space if LGAs are structured and galvanized to work.
It may sound so simplistic yet getting the LGAs working is the missing link.
In the final analysis, thinking governors like Otti and Mbah will have to set up their LGAs to be effective and devolve more powers to them to deliver deep-reaching development to the people.
This is the model that would make sense. This has to be the new Nigerian governance paradigm and we want to see Mbah and Otti lead the way soon.
LASTLINE:
WHO KILLED BABATUNDE DOLAPO TANIMOLA?
Why is the DSS and the police playing the ostrich over the killing of this fellow?
Tanimola has been named as the link between the Chief of Staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila and Adeniyi Adeyemi Matthew, DG of the alleged fictional federal agency, PFIPC.
The burning heist, known as Gbaja-Gate, has claimed the life of Tanimola in a horrid and most brutish manner about eight months ago. Tanimola reportedly died in an Abuja hotel inferno. The remains of the hotel is said to have been pulled down to boot.
Tanimola was a well heeled socialite and social climber. The digital space is full of his footprints and images with the who’s who in Nigeria.
On account of this alone, the police and DSS should have definitive information on Tanimola right now. Especially as it concerns Gbaja-Gate. It’s a simple and straightforward stuff and Nigerians are watching this closely.###