By Collins Ughalaa<\/p>\n
For purposes of space and convenience I have chosen to treat this subject
\nin parts, first beginning with the 8\u00a0 years of the Redemption government of
\nChief Achike Udenwa, and then the 4 years of the New Face administration of
\nChief Dr. Ikedi Ohakim.<\/p>\n
But before I set out, let me correct the erroneous impression that has
\nfound sweet abode in the minds of many people, including members of the
\nparty. I am aware that even the staunch members of the PDP will give me
\nsome hard knocks because of revelations herein, but that is because of what
\nthey know or they chose to believe, and it is ok. However, if they had
\ntaken a little step further they would have found cure for their biases.<\/p>\n
The story has been on for more than 18 years, that Owerri Zone gave their
\nslot in 1998 to Chief Achike Udenwa of Orlu Zone to become the Governor of
\nthe State. That Chief Achike Udenwa came a distant fourth position while
\nBarr Humphrey Anumodu, from Owerri Zone, came first.<\/p>\n
Those who spread this falsehood do so because they want to make political
\ncapital out of it, or that is what they chose to believe. They always want
\nto paint the picture of how Owerri Zone has done so much for other zones
\nand how they have been mistreated.<\/p>\n
My research shows that contrary to the widely held belief of Owerri Zone
\nleaders trading off their opportunity in 1998 because they considered Barr
\nAnumodu a hard nut to crack and Udenwa a more amenable person, Chief Udenwa
\nwon the governorship primary election of the PDP clean and square.<\/p>\n
In the frenzy to grab the gubernatorial ticket of the PDP in 1998, some of
\nthe aspirants padded the votes in their respective LGAs and had very
\nastonishing numbers without a good spread across the LGAs. They calculated
\nerroneously that having the highest number of votes without cutting across
\nthe LGAs was all that was needed. Thus, the delegates’ votes from Mbaitoli
\nLGA was highly inflated to give the candidate from that area the impression
\nof getting elected as guber candidate without winning a majority spread of
\nthe 27 LGAs. This happened with others, even some from Orlu Zone, as they
\nconcentrated on vote padding in their respective LGAs. But Chief Udenwa did
\nnot inflate his score in his Orlu LGA, neither did he inflate his scores
\nfrom his Zone. He won a convincing majority delegates’ votes across the
\nstate, and the PDP leaders had no option than to stand on the side of
\ntruth. They called the gsme at the centre.<\/p>\n
The Governor of Imo State should not be the product of any enclave. He
\nshould demonstrate his level of acceptability by winning votes across the
\nState. It did not matter who was involved. Even though many of the people
\nwho shout on the rooftop how Owerri Zone made Chief Udenwa Governor have
\nnot seen the primary election result of the party in 1998, what mattered
\nwas that someone won the majority spread of the votes cast and that person
\nwas Chief Achike Udenwa.<\/p>\n
Having cleared this, it needs to be stated that perhaps outside physical
\ninfrastructure the biggest achievement of the Udenwa era was the peace of
\nthe time, political and economic development of the people and his drive
\nfor ethical reorientation.<\/p>\n
Coming from the military era, many people still suffered the hangover of
\nthe military days and as such they behaved in such manner and wanted
\ngovernment transactions conducted in such brutish military mentality. But
\nUdenwa wanted to deepen democracy, and thus a campaign for attitudinal
\nchange was born. This in turn led to the creation of the Imo State
\nOrientation Agency. This agency has been bastardized by the Okorocha
\ngovernment. Imo State was not the only government in need of mental and
\nattitudinal rebirth needed for the growth of democracy after the exit of
\nthe military.<\/p>\n
If you knew that all legacies are not tangible you would begin to
\nappreciate the efforts put in to change the mentality of a people that have
\nbecome used to military ways of doing things, even government transactions.
\nWhat would you say of a man who who did not send his children to school but
\nspent his money building houses for them and saving what was left in the
\nbank for them? What of the man who spent his money sending his children to
\nschool but built little or no houses and made little or no savings? Who
\nleft a befitting legacy for his children?<\/p>\n
Despite knowing that all legacies are not tangible, the Udenwa
\nadministration conducted local government election two times. This means
\nthat we had more about 350 councillors doing legislative businesses at the
\nlocal government level and taking development back to their wards. We had
\n27 elected local government chairmen in place with their aides and
\nassistants. The economic implications is unimaginable.<\/p>\n
Politically, the presence of elected local government officials would ease
\ntraffic and concentration on the state government as many people were
\nsatisfied dealing with their LGAs and not to frequent the office of the
\nGovernor for anything at all. The political stability resulting from this
\ncan also only be imagined.<\/p>\n
The Udenwa administration did not stop at the LGAs. But in order to deepen
\ndemocracy and bring development closer to the people, the Udenwa
\nadministration created the Local Government Development Centres. These
\ninstitutions of governance helped in no small measure in building the human
\ncapita needed in the state. Look very well and you would see that the
\nUdenwa era through the LGAs and development centers raised strong
\npoliticians who have become useful to themselves and the state.<\/p>\n
For example, Hon G. Irona who later became both member of the Imo State
\nAssembly and Federal House of Reps was the Executive Chairman of Oguta LGA
\nduring the Udenwa administration. Senator SamDaddy Anyanwu who later became
\na member of the State Assembly remains the product of that glorious era.
\nHon Goodluck Nana Opiah who is now a member of the House of Reps was a
\nmember of the House of Assembly in the Redemption era. He later became
\nSpeaker of the State Assembly. The Ikenga Orlu, Hon Mayor Eze, was the
\nExecutive Chairman of Orlu LGA and Chairman of ALGON during the Udenwa
\nadministration. He later became a member of the House of Reps. The current
\nSpeaker of Imo State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Acho Ihim, remains a product
\nof the Udenwa era. What of Toney Black? What of Barr Soronnadi Njoku who
\nwas a Commissioner for Agriculture in the Udenwa administration? He later
\nbecame the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice during the first
\nterm of Governor Okorocha. The list is endless.<\/p>\n
Regrettably, all this lofty achievements were rubbished and wiped away by a
\nman who wants to rewrite and retell the Imo Story. As first victims, he
\nwiped away the development centers and created his toxic fourth-tier
\ngovernment christened Community Government Council. He also sacked all the
\n350 elected councillors and 27 elected LGA chairmen.<\/p>\n
While Governor Okorocha was destroying the development centers his
\ncounterpart in Lagos State was busy conducting elections into their own
\ndevelopment centers inherited from the Tinubu era, same time Udenwa created
\nhis. And it has been so since in Lagos. You can only imagine the impact of
\nthe development centers in Lagos.<\/p>\n
To make sure that peace and political stability reigned in Imo, Udenwa did
\nnot muscle the LGAs. He allowed the people to choose their executive
\nchairmen and councillors\u00a0 and that brought a lot of peace and political
\nstability that allowed the government the peace of mind to now engage in
\nequitable and prudent allocation of its scarce resources to the various
\nsectors of the state. Even when it had the power to keep power in
\nperpetuity in Orlu Zone, Udenwa mustered all the energies at his disposal
\nand stopped prominent and wealthy Orlu sons from eyeing the governorship
\nseat in 2007. He Zoned the governorship to Okigwe Zone.<\/p>\n
Has it ever occurred to you that as at the time Udenwa became Governor the
\nState was highly indebted to foreign creditors? They successive
\ngovernments, including the Mbakwe government, got the State deep in foreign
\ndebts. It was the Udenwa era that began the repayment of those debts. At
\nthe end of the month after each deductions at FAAC, the Udenwa government
\nwould be left with almost nothing.<\/p>\n
Having paid back the debts, and in excess, the Okorocha administration has
\ngot more than N20bn as refund of the excess debt payment by the PDP
\ngovernments. Imagine a Governor leaving N20bn for his predecessor! Would
\nyou classify such Governor as a failure? Consider also that the Udenwa era
\nnever enjoyed the kind boom in revenue as Okorocha is enjoying now. But you
\ncould see easily that prudent management helped the Udenwa era.<\/p>\n
With almost zero income, Udenwa made sure salaries were paid and pensions
\nnot owed and had money to engage in other meaningful legacy projects. For
\nexample: Udenwa developed the popular Civic Center, a residential area for
\nthe who-is-who in the State. As a prudent manager, Udenwa gave out the more
\nthan 75 plots of land and got only one for himself. None for his wife. None
\nfor his children. And he did not leave it undeveloped. With the about N4m
\npaid per plot of land the Udenwa administration instead of pocketing it
\ndeployed same for the development of the Civic Center. And we have it to
\nthank God for.<\/p>\n
Today the civic center is a wonder to behold. Interestingly, after six
\nyears, the Rescue Mission has developed nothing but has rather gone on
\ndestruction mission instead. The Okorocha government had forgotten that it
\nwas the Udenwa era thag produced the Imo State Oil Producing Areas
\nDevelopment\u00a0 Commission\u00a0 (ISOPADEC).<\/p>\n
When some people talk about the PDP in disdainful tones they feign
\nignorance of the fact that Udenwa breathed life into World Bank, spreading
\ndevelopment to Umuguma. Beyond the World Bank, what we know today as
\nAkanchawa, reaching to Concorde Hotel, and New Owerri are all creations of
\nUdenwa’s magic fingers.<\/p>\n
Chief Udenwa did not demolish Concorde Hotel because he did not build it.
\nHe did not sell it either. With the little income available to his
\ngovernment he was able to renovate the Concorde Hotel and that opened the
\ngate of tourism in the State. At the time the football legend, Kanu
\nNwankwo, wedded his lovely wife at the Concord Pool Side, and Concorde
\nHotel got the attraction of oil companies.<\/p>\n
Today, the real owners of Concorde Hotel remains doubtful. And shockingly,
\ndespite the long period of closures and renovations, Concorde has become
\nbeautiful habitat for rodents.<\/p>\n
It would actually require volumes of books to chronicle the glorious era of
\nthe PDP in Imo. But mention must be made that the Udenwa era built general
\nhospitals and opened the General Hospital Road at World Bank. Perhaps the
\ncrown on the efforts of the Udenwa era was the Imo State University
\nTeaching Hospital with the state of the art medical equipments shipped from
\nabroad. But till today, the Okorocha government has allowed the containers
\nto rot at the wharf and the medical facility to decay in Orlu. Had the
\nOkorocha government paid one kobo attention, Imo State would have become a
\nmedial tourist center.<\/p>\n
Not many people have forgotten that by the time Udenwa came on board civil
\nservants did not have decent offices. They did not even have enough to
\naccommodate them. To solve this problem once and for all and to spread
\ndevelopment to the New Owerri, Udenwa built the gigantic new Secretariat.
\nHe did not rest there. He renovated the State Assembly complex and built
\nthe State House of Assembly Road. This singular act led to the springing up
\nof hotels such as All Seasons Hotel, Links Hotel, Newcastle Hotel,
\nDreamland Hotels, etc. Today, that area is a living testimony to what
\ncredible leadership can do.<\/p>\n
Our people say that an angry man does not take a goat to the market. He
\nwould strangle the goat. However, the Okorocha government has gone on with
\nso much contempt for his predecessors. In order to portray his predecessors
\nin bad light, especially Udenwa, he has renamed the Redemption Housing
\nEstate. This Estate opened up the Avu and Obinze area and pushed
\ndevelopment to that direction. Today many people are happy landlords in
\nthat area, and from there they access Owerri everyday and do their
\nbusinesses and return home.<\/p>\n
Conversely, despite all the noise of the APC government in Imo, it has been
\none step forward, 1,000 backward. It has been a story of failed projects
\nand cluelessness.<\/p>\n
The APC government said the PDP wasted its 12 years planting trees, but
\ntoday the APC government has not only removed the trees and deforested the
\nState, it is wasting our money roofing all the roads in the State. If this
\nis not the full definition of clueless leadership, then we must ask that
\nthe authors of the English dictionaries should go back to school.<\/p>\n
For over six years the APC government had delivered no hospitals. No drugs.
\nNothing. It has been a government that delights in throwing jibes at its
\npredecessors. Nothing more.<\/p>\n
Despite selling the general hospitals the APC government has allowed Imo
\npeople to die in their numbers as a result of lack of public medical
\nfacilities. And wherever you see any medical facility in the State, they
\nare the remnants of the glorious PDP era. It needless to repeat the fact
\nthat the 27 general hospitals of the APC has provided nothing\u00a0 at all. The
\nHealth at Your Door Step is only as sweet as it sounds and nothing more.
\nPerhaps this government is only a government of slogans, for the sloganeers
\nand by the sloganeers.<\/p>\n
…To be continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Collins Ughalaa For purposes of space and convenience I have chosen to treat this subject in parts, first beginning with the 8\u00a0 years of the Redemption government of Chief…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n