OPINION: Hope’s signature and Mbakwe’s legacy

SIGNATURE is an acceptable mark of identification in business and in relationships. It is also a form of taking ownership of a document, a contract and/or a project. Signature defines who you are. This is particularly so in relation to a project, product or service. In public and private sectors, a conscientious leader will strive to leave indelible and enduring marks. To do less is to invite the opprobrium of history.

In the many decades of the creation of Imo state, one former leader who was also a governor, Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, Ph.D [also fondly called Dee Mbakwe], had stood alone and lonely in the pantheon of leaders. Administration of Imo state did not cease with the passage of the Obowo-Okigwe-born ‘weeping’ governor. Truth be told, there had been military governors/administrators before Mbakwe, a civilian, happened to the state in 1979. It has been 44 years since Mbakwe and his class of governors of 1979, which included Alhaji Lateef Jakande [Baba Kekere] of Lagos state were sacked by military adventurers and opportunists led by Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

To imagine that after four decades of Mbakwe leaving office and about 20 years since his death, he has remained the benchmark for measuring the performance, or lack of it, of successive administrations. And the verdicts appear to have been that virtually all the succeeding governments had come short in terms of the quantity and quality of projects and services delivered.

Mbakwe governed an Imo state that included today’s Abia state and parts of Ebonyi state. He had demonstrably less resources and federal allocations on account of being in an opposition party. Mbakwe was to the East what Jakande, also late, was to the South West- icons. Without attempting to draw a hasty parallel, incumbent Imo state governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, may yet become another beacon in the horizon. There is no doubt that his emergence as governor was mired in a troubling controversy of national dimension. But he has held on well and has through a dint of hard and smart work won the trust and buy-in of a significant proportion of Imo indigenes. To say that his administration was dogged by legitimacy issues at the beginning will be an understatement.

If governing Imo state were to be compared with piloting an aircraft, it could be reasonably argued that Governor Uzodinma has almost attained a cruising level that he could now indulge in engaging the autopilot gear. Not quite.

Insecurity, to an extent, remains a concern. But for many people on ground in the state, it has recently not been much about insecurity but the perception of it. Many people outside Imo state, nay the Igbo nation, believe that the former Eastern region has been turned into an unending stretch of a killing field by self determination groups and sundry common criminals and felons. It would amount to living in denial to assert that that’s not the case. There are real problems of insecurity but they are not markedly different from what obtains in other parts of Nigeria. The insecurity that is sadly unique and peculiar to the South East is the Indigenous People of Biafra [IPOB’s]-inspired Monday sit-at-home that grounds the economy of the region and restricts human movement. Its enforcement leads to violence and deaths. Sadly the horse has since bolted from the stable so the recent repeated IPOB disclaimers on the forced restrictions have failed to move the needle. Criminal gangs and felons instigated by one Simon Ekpa, who is safely ensconced in his Finland abode, have since seized the sit-at-home project which is by the way ill-informed and ill-digested ab initio.

However, it is instructive that real or perceived insecurity has not significantly adversely impacted on Governor Uzodinma’s commitment to do his best for Imo state. And it seems that he is focused on the quality of his projects and services than on the quantity. And that is where it may not be entirely wrong to liken him to Dee Mbakwe. Roads constructed by Mbakwe have held out for more than 40 years in parts of the state in spite of lack of maintenance by successive administrations. The factories, hotels and other institutions Mbakwe built have endured. Uzodinma is doing the same.

To illustrate, his Owerri- Orlu expressway is certainly the best paved road since Mbakwe. It also ranks among the best freeways constructed anywhere in Nigeria in this fourth republic. The care given to its construction, the drainage provided on both sides and the lighting are recommended for emulation. That road can sustain a 24-hour economy for communities bifurcated by the highway.

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Any user will appreciate the enormity of the work done when compared with the completely collapsed Orlu-Urualla- Akokwa expressway built by former Governor Rochas Okorocha. That one is now a death trap. Indeed, it has broken into two with a raven deep enough to swallow a five-story building. The irony is that the broken and sunken section is at the door step of the homestead of Rochas Okorocha. It is also instructive that the poorly conceptualised and executed road failed while Okorocha was still in office. The same for urban and local roads he built and also the International Conference and Convention Centre, Owerri which has been pulled down. It will be recalled that a time the former governor shamelessly blamed political detractors and acid rains for the fate that befell his projects.

Governor Uzodinma also stamped his imprimatur on the reconstructed House of Assembly in new Owerri. It’s an edifice to behold. But more important is the transformation of the interior of the complex with fixtures and fittings that made it a fit-for-purpose legislative House. The same was done by Hope in the tasteful remodelling of the Executive Chambers. You will also see his signature in the reconstructed MCC-Uratta-Toronto-Road Safety road in the heart of Owerri. Hope’s fingerprints are already discernable on the Owerri-Mbaise-ObowoUmuahia expressway which is under reconstruction.

Home owners, residents and businesses that once abandoned the Chukwuma Nwoha and Dick Tiger axis of Owerri have returned thanks to the cutting edge balloon-driven flood control technology deployed by the governor. There are indications that the same tech will be used to save the residents and businesses threatened by the ravages of ferocious flood waters and the concomitant erosion.

Uzodinma’s contract with the people is not limited to brick and mortar projects. Last week legal juggernauts were in Owerri to launch the Imo state law reports from 2004. It will certainly be a handy tool for relevant professionals. About the same time, the governor moved the minimum wage for civil servants from the national N30’000 to N40’000, ostensibly as a first step in responding to the cost of living crisis. There’s no doubt that Governor Hope Uzodinma has battles ahead of him in spite of the obviously good work he is doing. One such battle he has to fight and win very quickly is that of perception because in politics perception is almost everything. He needs to embark on charm offensive and then whittle down on the tough guy public mien. His assistants also have their work cut out for them in this regard. He needs to get his name etched for good in the memory and consciousness of the people and in the pantheon of Imo state and Igbo leaders.

AUTHOR: UGO ONUOHA

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Articles published in our Graffiti section are strictly the opinion of the writers and do not represent the views of Ripples Nigeria or its editorial stand.

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