EXPRESSO_Umb-rage: THE APC CURSE IN IMO

Imo And The Paradox Of Federal Mighty: If your governor is among the decampees to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ostensibly to plug into the benefits that accrues from the centre, show him the zero benefits Imo state is getting from APC.

Imo seems to represent both the metaphor for and paradox of a state being a part of the ruling government and getting no dividends whosoever. We thought the era of former Governor Rochas Okorocha was arid, but from hindsight, those were jolly good days.

For instance, between 2011 to 2019 when Rochas held sway, Imo always had the full compliments of her federal ministers as well as critical appointments at the centre. Not so under Governor Hope Uzodinma. The situation has become graver with the advent of President Bola Tinubu.

NO VOICE IN THE FEC: Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Imo got her due in terms of ministers.

Though low calibre they may be, they had full charge of their ministries; they were not subs. But today, our dear state has no first class federal minister in the Federal Executive Council! Federal Ministers are supposed to statutorily go round each state, going by the constitution. But Imo only has a junior minister.

Even the good book captures the Imo situation better:”.. . whosoever does not have, even what they have will be taken away from them.” (Matt. 13:12). So it happened that the only slot Imo had, Mrs Doris Uzoka-Anite who was Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment, was yanked from that perch and demoted to become a junior minister for finance about a year ago.

So effectively, Imo State has no voice in FEC meetings currently. Of course no junior minister would speak unless authorised by her senior colleague. Yet Imo is supposedly an APC State. Yet again, a couple of days ago, the president announced a list of what may be considered the top – 35 diplomats.

Not a single nominee from Imo despite the fact that the southeast has six names on the shortlist. What’s going on, why is Imo being punished? Recently, Governor Uzodinma lamented to no one in particular that the federal government would not reimburse him the humongous sums of Imo money expended on building federal roads. Meanwhile, FG has been approving payments for other states. Truly, most of the major roads Uzodinma has done are federal interstate thoroughfares.

He expanded Owerri -Orlu, Owerri-Okigwe and Owerri-Umuahia roads. He also raised a flyover at Control point decluttering Owerri-Port Harcourt, and Owerri- Onitsha roads. All these are big ticket projects. Why a governor would prioritise federal roads and pour state funds in them is confounding.

Yet it would have been an ingenious tactic if the vired funds returned timeously to the state coffers. But many state roads and infrastructure in Imo remain unattended to because of this peculiar misappropriation.

UZODINMA’S AGONISTES: Why is President Tinubu making Governor Hope Uzodinma a laughing stock in Imo State? He’s supposedly the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum. This seems to count for nothing. A few days ago, Hope was dressed in another elaborate garb.

This time, he’s the National Chairman of the Renewed Hope Initiative Committee (RHIC). This is something of a Special Adviser position to President Tinubu. This is probably a precursor to the position of Tinubu Re-election Committee Chairman. It looks like he wants to bag that big job through the back door.

But to what end? Governor Hope has virtually devoted his tenure to APC. Running all manner of errands for the party including supervising bye-elections and hosting feckless decampees. Spending Imo time and resources.

UNREQUITED LOVE: It’s curious that in spite of his exertions, Governor Hope is almost totally shut out of the presidency. He can hardly see Baba. But the wily and doughty politician he is, Hope never says never. He hacks at the portals of Aso Rock; he works the protocol team and any official who can make access.

The grapevine news says he has been spending a bit of money, wads of Imo money to carve some leeway to the Presidency. He has been succeeding somewhat. Through ambush tactics, he gets to stand at airport receptions for the arriving president or gets an opportunity to wave him goodbye.

Any chance to get on the sidelines of big presidential occasions or get in the view of the president is craved and often much rewarded handsomely. The foregoing explains why Imo state is suffering losses in spite of being a foremost APC state in the Southeast. No special privileges, no entitlements and not even her statutory dues, does Imo state get.

EXPRESSO would like to be proved wrong, but no federal project of importance has been planted in Imo in six years of Uzodinma. Worse still, Hope has remained an absentee governor at home. He has definitely spent more days in Abuja and anywhere else but Owerri. He has also supervised a most uncoordinated and unintegrated governance system.

Yes he has raised a few blocks here and there, it must be given to him (he rebuilt a conference centre, refurbished Concorde Hotel, he’s working on a power plant and expanded the aforementioned roads). These are about all. But the management of a state of about five million residents goes beyond putting one block on top of another: that’s bricklaying, not governance.

Governance is incremental and measurable improvements in the wellbeing and quality of life of the governed. How many people have been scooped from debilitating poverty in Imo state in six years? Has he made life more secure and abundant than he met it? Has health services improved drastically under his watch? Has he benchmarked education against the world’s best? What has he done with Housing, Transportation system, Agriculture, Water and Sanitation, Rural upliftment, Sports and Youth Development? etc. Governance is about keeping an eye on the Human Development Indices (HDI) and we dare say (without bothering about any empirical measure) that Imo got the short end of the stick all the way under Uzodinma.

Short of calling him a bricklayer, Hope is a handicapped, one-track-minded leader. Now he’s doubly encumbered. He chose to kowtow to some foreign gods instead of walking with his people like Gov. Alex Otti for instance. Have those gods abandoned him? One more example:

The state government has spent a lot of money to have the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport (SMICA), Owerri, ready and approved for use for the purpose for which it was built ab initio: which is international cargo services. No dice. FG only allows pilgrims to shuttle to and fro Mecca and Jerusalem, instead of commercial cargo.

It means that SMICA is good enough and ready to operate international air shipments, but it’s being deliberately suppressed by the FG! Shall we then suggest that the FG has denied SMICA operational approval because it is in Igboland? If there’s any other reason, this column would be glad to be educated.

Well, whether Governor Uzodinma will eventually win the heart of Tinubu remains to be seen in the days ahead. But right now, he has nothing to show or brag of that Imo has benefitted from APC and Abuja. Instead, Imo people are the colossal losers on all fronts.

It has been APC CURSE IN IMO! Pity

Osuji was an editor at The Guardian, THISDAY, as well as one-time MD of The Statesman (Imo Newspapers), among others.