By Austin Uganwa<\/p>\n
Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha-led Imo state Government last week took its
\nrebuild mantra to a stimulating dimension. It embarked on a three-day
\nhands-on retreat for the political appointees. It was a veritable
\ninitiative designed to redefine governance trajectory in Imo and to
\nadequately and genuinely\u00a0 \u00a0equip the implementers of the rebuild vision
\non how best to pursue and accomplish the new administration’s
\nmuch-flaunted\u00a0 \u00a0onerous task of Imo revamp.<\/p>\n
The retreat, evidently the first of its kind in the state, took the
\nmembers of the Expanded State Executive Council to the intriguingly
\nserene Oguta Crystal Hotel. The Hotel sits arrogantly on an expansive
\ntable land and cascades bountiful natural surroundings. This makes it
\nthe choicest location in the state for a serious and arduous exercise of
\ncharting a fresh curve for Imo renaissance<\/p>\n
Oguta, the country home of Imo State deputy governor, Engineer Gerald
\nIrona is about 40 kilometers from Owerri, the state capital. It is the
\noil anchorage of the state as well as one of the major tourist
\ndestinations of Imo edified by the sprawling\u00a0 lake that surrounds the
\ntown’s beautiful but idyllic\u00a0 landscape.\u00a0 As we approached\u00a0 Oguta that
\nbright\u00a0 Wednesday morning from Owerri\u00a0 \u00a0for the commencement of the
\nretreat, the peaceful environment mingled with the twinkling vegetation
\nthat abounds\u00a0 to\u00a0 etch an instant impression of the appropriateness of
\nthe place\u00a0 for the brainstorming\u00a0 programme of this magnitude.<\/p>\n
Ihedioha subsequently flagged off the retreat at about midday. He
\ncaptured the kernel of the event crisply thus: “We have put this retreat
\ntogether for us to guarantee that we are on the same page and in pursuit
\nof one vision and\u00a0 to be\u00a0 imbued with the right kit necessary to evolve
\nand implement an effective roadmap on Imo rebuild by\u00a0 reclaiming all the
\nsectors of Imo development from the ruins of the past”.<\/p>\n
Noting the disgraceful\u00a0 and shocking state he met,\u00a0 on assumption of
\nduty,\u00a0 Imo infrastructure, health and education institutions,\u00a0 civil
\nservice system, power sector and so on, he consequently gave the
\npolitical appointees a marching order to be prepared to work to urgently
\nchange the curve or be shipped out. “I will be hard on you to ensure
\nthat the campaign promises are delivered and Imo is rebuilt. I appointed
\nyou to offer service thereby adding value to the government when you
\nfail to do so you will be shown the way out”, he stated. He added the
\nswift determination of his administration towards changing the Imo
\ndisgusting story<\/p>\n
Former Governors of Imo and Cross River, Ikedi Ohakim and Lyiel Imoke
\nattended the 3-day retreat and constituted the cream of the resource
\npersons. Other resource persons included; the Chief Judge of the state,
\nJustice Pascal Nnadi, former Minister of Transport and Commerce and
\nIndustry, Dr. Kema Chikwe and Dr Charles Ugwu; former Director-General
\nof Debt Management Office,\u00a0 Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, Dr. Chris Asoluka, Hon.
\nCyril Maduabum, a former member of the House of Representatives and
\nProfessor Ndem Ayara of the University of Calabar.<\/p>\n
Ohakim who observed that Ihedioha administration has great vision for
\nthe state urged the participants to buy comprehensively into the agenda
\nas an inspiring gizmo to latch on to fast-forward Imo development.
\nImoke, on the other hand\u00a0 brought his tall\u00a0 \u00a0experience in governance to
\nbear at the retreat. He assisted significantly in modulating the retreat
\nby providing desirable guide and tenor. He\u00a0 advised the government and
\nthe participants to be reform minded as a critical route towards
\naccomplishing the vision and needed change for the state.<\/p>\n
Charles Ugwu who labeled Imo as a failed state on account of past eight
\nyears of misrule provided a recipe for Imo rebuild. According to him,
\nthe political appointees must work amicably as a team with a single
\npurpose based on the administration vision.\u00a0 He advised government to
\nprovide gas-based power and set up efficient road management system to
\nadminister the roads.<\/p>\n
Abraham Nwankwo who noted that dismal Internally Generated Revenue base
\nis part of the state’s development albatross regretted that Imo is
\nranked 29th out of 36\u00a0 on the nation’s 2018 IGR chart in spite of its
\nfifth position on the\u00a0 Gross Domestic Products table. Stating that with
\nsuch remarkable GDP rate Imo is supposed to be one of the highest
\nrevenue generating states in the country,\u00a0 he urged Ihedioha and his
\nteam to boost Imo IGR through optimal use of human capital and
\nknowledge-based innovations. He listed the reasons for the poor IGR in
\nthe state in the past eight years to include: Lack of transparency and
\naccountability, disarticulation of strategy and inappropriate technology<\/p>\n
He expressed optimism that with the concrete steps taken by Ihedioha to
\nplug revenue leakages including the introduction of Treasury Single
\nAccounts (TSA) and enhancement of ease of doing business the IGR base of
\nthe state would appreciate considerably. Nwankwo is right. Since May
\n2019 Ihedioha took over the reins of the state the IGR has increased by
\nover 350 percent, from a paltry N245m to over N800m a month.<\/p>\n
The retreat organized in the most prudent and cost-effective fashion
\nnonetheless\u00a0 \u00a0spawned huge results. The political appointees genuinely
\nbought into the vision of the administration which intends to remake Imo
\nto be one of the three most developed state economies in Nigeria by
\n2025. To consolidate and to be steadfast\u00a0 and accountable to the buy-in,
\nthe appointees were collapsed into nine clusters based on the sectors
\nthey were assigned. Each cluster met during the technical session to
\ndesign its mission and mapped out four-point strategic agenda consistent
\nwith the larger vision. The members of each cluster resolved to be
\nmeeting regularly to strengthen and implement the strategies and to
\nevaluate and measure the results for enhanced realization of the vision.<\/p>\n
Dr. Austin Uganwa, Senior Special Assistant to Imo Government on
\nDocumentation wrote from Owerri<\/p>\n
By Austin Uganwa Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha-led Imo state Government last week took its rebuild mantra to a stimulating dimension. It embarked on a three-day hands-on retreat for the political…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n