IMO GOLDEN BLUEPRINT ! For Dr. Ikedi Ohakim on his birthday 

IMO GOLDEN BLUEPRINT !

For Dr. Ikedi Ohakim on his birthday

 

By Obinna Ndukwe

 

August 4th.

Not just cake.

Not just wine.

Imo, we need to ask:

DO YOU REMEMBER THE GOLDEN BLUEPRINT?

 

Happy birthday, Your Excellency

Dr. Ikedi Godson Ohakim, GSSI.

 

History forgets noise.

History remembers systems.

 

VERSE 1: CLEAN & GREEN

August 10, 2007.

Day one.

He didn’t talk.

He worked.

 

ENTRACO hit the streets.

5 million trees in the ground.

Grass on our roundabouts.

Open defecation GONE.

 

For 4 years Imo shined.

All day.

All month.

All year.

 

2008, 2009, 2010 —

CLEANEST STATE IN NIGERIA.

The nation called him ICON.

Because willpower works.

 

VERSE 2: HE BUILT TO LAST

A project dies.

An institution lives.

 

IROMA — 6,000km of rural roads.

World Bank clapped.

Farmers reached markets.

Children reached schools.

 

Operation Festival — 32 police hubs linked.

Crime fell.

Peace returned.

Even Aso Rock noticed.

 

ISIPA. ENTRACO. ISPDC. ISOPADEC.

Not projects.

Systems.

 

VERSE 3: THE BLUEPRINT WORKED

Njaba farmer no longer watched crops rot.

Orlu student walked clean streets.

Investors looked past Owerri —

Saw 27 LGAs.

 

That’s leadership.

Not “what can I commission?”

But “what will work in 20 years?”

 

BRIDGE: THE HARD QUESTION

Clean & Green?

IROMA?

10,000 Jobs?

Operation Festival Security?

Oguta wonder lake?

All schools back to the missionaries?

University scholarships?

Water! Water! Everywhere?

 

2027 is coming.

So Imo, answer me:

DO WE HAVE THE COURAGE TO PICK THE BLUEPRINT BACK UP?

 

Great nations don’t trash good ideas.

They fund them.

They improve them.

They sustain them.

That is called DEVELOPMENT.

 

FINAL VERSE: Ikedichineke!

You may love him.

You may hate him.

But you cannot lie on the record.

 

He governed with his head.

He planned past elections.

He gave Imo a BLUEPRINT.

 

Happy birthday!, Dr. Ikedi Ohakim.

The architect.

The reminder.

 

May God grant you strength.

May your ideas birth new leaders.

And may Imo find sense

To RETURN TO THE GOLDEN BLUEPRINT.

 

THE BLUEPRINT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO FORGET.

 

#TheGoldenBlueprint #ReturnToWhatWorked

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