Dele Sobowale
11 May 2008
opinion
FIRST of all, let me sincerely express my appreciation for the mature tone of your query which is legitimate in every respect.
0803-726-0046: Mr Dele, presently going through your column, are you sincere about the comparison between Ohakim and Mbakwe? Can you point out these achievements that have surpassed Mbakwe's?....Thanks. Dyke
Let me start by pointing out something which several people reading the column missed and not only with respect to this article and some of the governors mentioned but with others as well.
A proposition is partially made and instead of people asking for the reasons, they jump to conclusions.
I think it has to do with our collective semantic habits as this example would demonstrate. If you drop the following names, Obasanjo, Arthur Nzeribe, Babangida and Ibrahim Mantu at a gathering, one thing is certain to occur - virtually everyone would have an opinion about them for good or ill.
And those predetermined views will influence their reception of what you say. That is even before they know what you are about to say.
Nzeribe, for instance once called for the impeachment of Obasanjo and was roundly condemned - except by me who asked that he should present the facts. Today many people would agree we missed the boat on that one.
Late Chief Sam Mbakwe is one of those leaders about whom a cult of personality has grown so much so for some people, it is considered an affront for anybody else to be compared with him.
To me I think it is an insult to the people of any state, not just Imo, to assume that anybody's achievement cannot be equaled or surpassed.
One of the tragedies of the South-West, where I come from, lies in the fact that no other leader has emerged whose achievements have equaled or surpassed that of Awolowo.
The closest we have come has been Alhaji Lateef Jakande, the "action governor" of Lagos State. More to the point, I think you will need to read the column again. If I may ask, which Mbakwe are you comparing with Ohakim? Certainly you cannot seriously compare a governor who spent four years and four months with one who had spent only one year.
Furthermore, forgive me for saying this, but I don't know how aware you were of the public service delivery in 1979 to 1980. But, you have probably heard of the sobriquet "weeping governor" which was the nickname that Mbakwe earned for shedding tears each and every time he visited many cities and towns of Imo (which then included Abia State) in those days and beheld uncompleted projects, abandoned projects and projects that were not even started even though the contractors have been fully paid.
He complained about meeting an empty purse; he grumbled about the mountain of debt he inherited and shouted about the neglect of roads by the Federal government. In fact, not until Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the great Zik of Africa, as the leader of the NPP called him and advised him to stop complaining and get cracking did he start to move. By then the first year was almost over.
The Mbakwe of record did not really show the stuff he was made off until the second year.
Unlike Mbakwe, Ohakim also met squalor in the cities, a mountain of debt and a state that was bereft of leadership for eight years. His first point of intervention was in the area of environment through the Clean and Green Initiative.
I hope you live at Imo or have been there in the last four or five months, if you have and you still ask me to show you the achievement, then it is obvious that we are dealing with a case of a jaundiced observer who will never be convinced.
As part of that initiative was the policy decision to move all used car dealers who in every state capital of Nigeria have constituted themselves into public nuisance everywhere, blocking roads, turning pedestrian walkways into their parking lots and parking vehicles on drainage systems.
That was Owerri until Ohakim came to power; that is not Owerri today. Even if that were the only achievement, he would still have deserved honourable mention.
Perhaps, you have not seen the city buses and taxis which were not there before and which have helped a great deal in moving Owerri towards becoming a modern city fit for international tourists.
On four different occasions in the last one year, I have travelled to Imo by road. On two there was general fuel scarcity. Whereas, filling stations in Anambra, Enugu and Abia states took motorists to the cleaners, Imo was a refreshing exception and I asked for the reason; not from Ohakim or any government official but from okada drivers.
The reply was the same - the governor had personally gone out to filling stations to sell petrol in order to hold the price down. You might not have heard of the Stakeholders Forum where the governor every month goes to render the account of his stewardship to the people at an interactive session.
This was disclosed to me by media people in the state and to the best of my knowledge is the only such session anywhere in Nigeria.
Is it cleanliness for its own sake? One might ask. And the answer came very clearly. Clean and green which is being ably handled by the Imo Environmental Committee (IMO ENTRACO) is a prelude to the state's majour effort to attract tourists and investors; provide jobs and increase the internally generated revenue of the state.
The complex set of initiatives have, however, been summarized into what has been branded the new face of Imo - the strategic pathway which was the product of 165 individuals from every segment of Imo State. One can easily call them the brightest and the best that Imo or indeed Nigeria has to offer.
The chairman was highly respected Justice Oputa, rtd; secretary was Chief Innocent Oparadike and vice-chairmen were Eze Festus Odimegwu; former managing director of Nigerian Breweries; Senator Agunanme and Chief Chris Asoluka. Certainly any Transition Committee including Dr Pascal Dozie, Chief Leo Stan Eke, Chief Tonny Ezenna, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Dr Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke; Dr. Walter Ofonagoro; Mr Reginald Ihejiahi, Dr. Mrs Kema Chikwe, Prof. Green Nwakwo, Chief Pat Ekeji among others could not but be regarded as first eleven in any part of Nigeria.
Together they produced a fifteen point plan which has been guiding government action. But, the speed and tenacity of implementation has been all Ohakims.
In the short history of Nigeria since 1966, only three governors have moved so decisively in such a short time - Samuel Ogbemudia, the military governor of Bendel State under Gowon; Alhaji Audu Bako of Kano (including Jigawa) and Alhaji Jakande of Lagos State. Mbakwe as I earlier stated joined the elite group after a late start.
Ogbemudia gave Bendel the best set of roads nationwide and also promoted sports; Audu Bako turned a food deficit Kano State into a food-surplus state; and who can possibly miss all those low-cost housing units in Lagos called Jankande estates?
If Ohakim continues at the present pace and does not get distracted, greatness awaits both the state and its governor.
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