By Kelechi Mejuobi
The COVID-19 Pandemic has somehow rubbed off the shine every aspect of life.
Since the ravaging illness caught the world pants down, forced every sector to slow- pace, thereby enshrining a new form of safety measures to control the spread, a new method of living has enthroned a different thinking about life.
Yours truly was among those who somewhat felt if the world was coming to an end following the menace of the Corona virus.
The disturbing situation occasioned by the Covid-19 disease caused a compulsory pause of my regular column in Trumpeta even as there was a partial operation in the newspaper industry during the lockdown.
But in the two months lockdown, interesting developments have shaped the polity in the country, especially in my dear Imo State, South East part of the Nigeria.
Remarkably, the deadly pandemic became prominent when new administration in Imo State led by Governor Hope Uzodinma was arranging for a smooth take off. Recall that on January 14, 2020, Uzodinma came into power after the Supreme Court finally decided the 2019 Imo State Governorship contest.
Uzodinma didn’t leave anyone in doubt he has come to add value into governance from his initial style. There was no vindictive posture from the outset.
Apparently aware of what Imo people needs, he allowed the road contracts awarded by his immediate predecessor, Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP to continue.
Anyone who had been part of the state knew that as at the time former Governor Rochas Okorocha, now a Senator Representing one of the zones in the state at the National Assembly, left office on May 29, 2019, major roads in the state were in shambles and could better pass as death traps. Worse hit was the state capital, Owerri, with major concentration of residents but road network.
The new administration, mindful of the desires of the people made repairs and award of contract for roads a priority. Despite that he wasn’t the one who initiated and awarded most of the road contracts, Uzodinma didn’t hesitate to continue the projects with same contractors where necessary; an act that is very rare in Nigeria’s political system, for a governor to continue a project from where his immediate predecessor stopped.
From observations in the state capital, the administration of Uzodinma has within the months in review added more road projects in the state to create more assess to vehicular
movements. Some of the roads initiated by Ihedioha and those the present administration awarded for construction are at advanced stages thereby returning smiles on the faces of road users in the state who had in the past lamented about the deplorable state of roads.
Apart from the road projects sector, Uzodinma in the spirit of continuity adopted the practice of Single Treasury Account, STA, policy, introduced during the Ihedioha times. When the PDP candidate, courtesy of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was declared winner and sworn in, one of the tactical approaches to financial discipline was the adoption of STA policy. Uzodinma gladly inherited it as part of process in the re-organization of the state purse.
Going further in what may appear more like the adoption of continuity mantra, in governance, Uzodinma also allowed the various probe panels established by Ihedioha during his eight months stay to proceed with their operations.
Few weeks after Ihedioha was sworn in, he set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry on award of contract during the Okorocha days, a panel to look at complaints arising from land allocation and another one on operations of the Imo State University, Imo State University Teaching Hospital and the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, ISOPADEC. Not left out is a panel on Imo State Polytechnic. The panels are under retired judges with other members.
From grapevine sources, while some of the panels have submitted their reports, others are still on, an indication that the governor may use their submissions as working instruments.
There is no doubt that Uzodinma has also delved into other critical sectors aimed at uplifting the State but the space available for this page may not contain these details.
But suffice it to note that there are certain emerging plague in the system the Governor needs to be mindful of to avoid certain pitfalls that had ridiculed some of his predecessors while in office.
The governor needs to be very conscious of the types of aides and advisers surrounding him even as his administration needs to be circumspect with the PDP defectors who joined his victory train after the Supreme Court verdict. It has become imperative to alert the governor before a misadventure in governance is recorded in his government.
It is on record that despite years Uzodinma has put in politics as an aspirant to the office of the Governor and having occupied an envious position as a Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic for a record second time, he has not been a governor before except from January this year, hence the need to be acquainted with necessary tactical know-how to handle a virile and sensitive state like Imo. In this case, the type of lieutenants that would surround him are of great interest.
Few interesting incidents have occured that the governor needs to be wary of because of the day of reckoning.
For now, some of his trusted allies in government may not be able to let him know the true position and unbiased assessment of his journey so far. The aides may not also present a true picture of his rating in the eyes of Imolites.
As usual, and in line with the tradition of domestic politics, what Uzodinma would be receiving from his followers and hangers-on seeking for notice, just as other former governor’s experienced, would be “Oga no cause for alarm” “Oga you are in charge, no yawa” and other pleasant words meant only to massage his ego and not for good leadership display. Most political appointees are notorious sycophants whose stock in trade are to praise worship even when their principals are in wrong lanes of service delivery.
Former governors who presided affairs of Government House, Owerri are victims of this chicanery from praise singers. Their slick performances to win the master always become disastrous. Ironically, when the chips are down, the same inglorious “Otimkpus” would be the first to start singing canary about how their principal failed should there be a mishap in the process of governance.
From Achike Udenwa to Ikedi Ohakim, Okorocha and lately Ihedioha, Otimkpus and sycophants have always turned hate mongers against their former bosses when fortunes turn around.
Our dear governor should be tactful about associating with these groups if he has desire to leave enviable landmarks in the history of the State. They start first by defending actions of government to seek notice and be offered appointments or jobs as compensation.. But behind the scene, they expose the oddities ravaging that particular administration. These groups are more of the exponents of “stomach infrastructure” who lack conscience and pushed by hunger not to hold on the path of honour.
From my observation, these inglorious group are gradually sprouting up in the Uzodinma administration. Those who rocked the boat in the previous Okorocha and Ihedioha governments have started creeping into the new administration in the state. Uzodinma should watch it. I wish to remind Uzodinma that an appointee whose sole job was to market the achievements of the ousted Ihedioha administration has turned 360 degrees overnight to come over to him after tackling writers like us that took on the immediate past government on what it failed to do. The poser remains, will those who jumped board from PDP to APC had gone ahead to do so if Ihedioha had remained as Imo State Governor till date? There is need to watch out for the political journeymen of our time who not only detest hunger because of lack of “second address” but always want to be near the corridors of power.
Moving on with the infamous subterfuge of colourless appointees, those around Uzodinma won’t tell him critical sectors of governance he shouldn’t ignore now if he wants to win the masses to his side. Imo is a civil service state where the average income earner is a either a government worker or retiree. The next in terms of job provision could be the hospitality industry because of high number of hotels and entertainment outfits in Imo.
Payment of workers salaries and pensions should not be negotiable in Imo state for a governor that wants to win the hearts of Imolites. Uzodinma gladdened the minds of many during his maiden address after swearing in when he informed the people that salaries would be paid latest 25th of every month. Same for pensions. It appears the 25th of every month payment promise may be regular rhetoric of politicians to hoodwink the masses as the reverse is the case so far. One had expected the aides to either remind the governor of this earlier promise or help him make it become functional after four months in office.
There are complaints from several quarters about non payment of salaries while retirees who earn above #50,000 monthly are lamenting that they are yet to receive their pensions for over three months.
Reports from LGA workers are not palatable about hitches in their salary payments. Many are yet to collect their salaries for three months. What of a reasonable section of the Imo State Polytechnic staff who are yet to taste salary since February. The end of May this year will make it four months of starvation for the Imopoly workers. Same fate of starvation has befallen staff of the Imo Broadcasting Corporation, IBC who are wallowing in hunger arising from non payment of salaries. One can’t rule out that frustration may have prompted a named staff of the IBC worker, Vivian Ottih to voice out about the non payment which gave rise to the suspension order clamped on her by the management. One had expected Uzodinma’s spin doctors in the media and image management handlers to have proffered refined public affairs finesse to manage the IBC staff issue than the hullabaloo raised by the suspension order. Those close to the governor should have also known that their principal has entered the record books to be the first governor perhaps in the State, a staff of government agency was sanctioned for crying out over non payment of her salaries during his tenure. I can recall during the Okorocha era when several parastatals couldn’t receive salaries because of the outrageous commercialization policy of the Rescue Mission. The affected workers and their leaders exploited several medium to alert the world of their predicament. They went on multiple protests and spoke to the media, yet, non was victimized for it.
It is worthy to note that in the same Okorocha era when agitation for salary payments was in speed gear, one of his aides proudly declared during media broadcast that “salary is a privilege, not a right” That statement won the Rescue Mission government of Okorocha several knocks that worked out against their desire to produce a successor from their political lineage. The irony was that the appointee who gave that claim dumped Okorocha midway and joined the bandwagon campaign against his administration. Today, Okorocha wears the scar of the remark that workers “salary is a privilege and not a right” while the originator has walked away.
I may also draw the attention of the government of the day to what may be misconstrued as threat to freedom of expression and free speech.
While a major headline of an Owerri based newspaper is trying to raise the dust where the Information and Strategy Commissioner was quoted to have said “Imo Govt Will Deal Ruthlessly With Opposition”, Tuesday’s OCDA invasion of Trumpeta newspapers premises in the pretext of demanding for the Approval plan for the building is another major concern of suspected attempt to possibly clampdown on press freedom. The building housing Trumpeta which has been built for over 15 years is not the only building situated on Item Street area of Ikenegbu, Owerri for the government agency to mark it. The building was the place OCDA stormed with a 16- Seater loaded bus and Hilux armed with policemen to demand for Trumpeta office and not even the premises proper. It is trite to state that politics is a media game and freedom of expression is a sine qua non.
And more worries about freedom of expression came up when the state government, instead of the Director of State Services, DSS who arrested the New Media Director of the PDP in the state, Ambrose Nwaogwugwu, came up with a claim that the young man was accused or will be prosecuted for cyber crime. I don’t think the state government has a role to play in the arrest, except those close to the governor won’t inform him that this is the first time we are hearing about Cyber Crime case in Imo politics knowing fully that all partakers have been involved in the “roforofo” play.
In the Trumpeta case, the newspaper as law abiding outfit with operators who have regards for constituted authorities won’t bar any government agency from undertaking its functions and responsibilities in line with the established laws.
But there are posers that suggest that there is more than the eye can see in the OCDA visit to Trumpeta office considering that it was the only building on Item Street marked and the demand of the operatives was to see Trumpeta office and not Philip’s House bodily inscribed on the two- storey building housing six flats for different offices.
Meanwhile, Trumpeta has no signpost unlike other co-tenants with bold inscriptions for identification of the building.
A major question waiting for answer is “why should the OCDA go on the streets to ask passersby location of Trumpeta office when it should have known and moved direct to the house it suspected had no building plan before erection started?
Other suspicious attitudes that give out OCDA as one on a mission is the number of stern looking able bodied men who jumped down from their vehicles and took positions within the premises when Trumpeta office was pointed to them on the street. Why come with armed policemen and fierce looking men when no one disrupted their operations?
I implore our dear governor to watch out for the shenanigans of overzealous appointees who embark on reckless overtures that would give rise to negative images about the present government.
I will rest my pen for now until events become clearer.
Kelechi MEJUOBI is Owerri based journalist and writer on contemporary issues.
