Uzodimma and his vision for a greater Imo

BY VICTOR DURUAMAKU

The present Imo State invariably christened “Eastern Heartland” came on board on August 29, 1991, following the creation of Abia State by the then General Ibrahim Babangida administration since then the state has been governed by both military and civilian governors who all in their inaugural speeches professed their determination to rescue the state from her deplorable state of degeneration, retardation, and backwardness but with negligible results, Governor Hope Odidika Uzodimma (aka Onwa Oyoko) who is the 7th elected governor of the state came on board on Tuesday 14th January 2020 following the sack of his predecessor-Chief Emeka Ihedioha by the supreme court.

Hardly had he been inaugurated when the Omuma born multi billionaire businessman turned politician marshaled out his action plan encapsulated in his mantra dubbed shared prosperity Agenda vividly called the 3Rs-Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery”.

First was his bold step to resuscitate and reposition the states ailing and wobbling economy.

This, he did by plugging/blocking all avenues of financial leakages through reorganization of the state civil services which not only detected and eliminated the cancerous ghost worker syndrome but resulted in the massive renovation of the entire civil service secretariat which situates on Port-Harcourt Road Owerri.

Rehabilitation of dilapidated Road networks across the three (3) senatorial districts of Owerri, Orlu, and Okigwe prominent among these are the Owerri/ Orlu Road, Owerri/Okigwe Road and the Owerri/Umuahia road which previously were nothing short of death traps but which had now became smoother than airport runways-having been dualized/center paved to ease transportation.

The state Assembly complex which previously served as a comfortable abode for all types of reptiles had been given a face hot by the Uzodimma administration with the state of the govt. facilities.

Apart from taking the bull by the horns to attract a new Teaching Hospital for the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Onwa Oyoko as he is popularly called has equally accomplished a feat by ensuring the upgrading of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri to a Teaching Hospital.

This is unassailably in addition to the upgrading of the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education to a Federal University of Education by the Federal government.

The Uzodimma led Shared Prosperity Agenda administration through intuition and ingenuity has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nigerian Navy for the dredging of the Oguta Lake/Orashi River to the Atlantic Ocean.

This hopefully will enable the Federal Government to establish a river port in the Oil rich city of Oguta and which will progressively open a new vista of opportunities for oil and gas business as well as international trade not just for the people of the state but for the entire South-East.

Insecurity-Admittedly, this has become a thorn in the flesh of both the state Govt. and the people of the state resulting in the senseless loss of lives and wanton destruction of lives reportedly at the instance of gunmen, their agents, and collaborators.

Interestingly, the state Govt. is not resting on its oars as it has continued to take proactive measures to contain the ugly trend.

First was the procurement of vehicles, ultra-modern state of the art security gadgets which were all distributed to security agencies in the state to weed criminals out of the state from their hideouts.

Local vigilance groups well equipped and motivated have since been planted in all 27 council areas and communities to place a tab on the heinous and diabolical operations of criminal elements.

This is in addition to welfare packages and in centers for hardworking security personnel to spur them to greater productivity and service delivery.

Roads within the Owerri capital city which traverse from MCC/Uratta road, World bank, Douglas, Wetheral, works layout, Imo State University Roundabout, Tetlow, and new market had since been rehabilitated in the last three years, just as massive youth empowerment had similarly become a veritable hallmark of the governor.

Through the state ministry of Digital Economy and e-government, a program known as “the skill up Imo project” has been established without any scintilla of doubt, the program commenced the training of the first batch of 100,000 youths in the state in different digital skills.

It is expected that in the next couple of months, the training would have been consummated with thousands of youths well equipped with different digital skills for immediate empowerment or self employment.

This is in addition to the 25,000 young people which the state government empowered with cash-transfer programme last December and 25,000 in the year 2022.

In retrospect, a total of 22 saloon cars were purchased and distributed to all serving permanent secretaries, and 30 (thirty) Hyundai buses were deployed to facilitate the daily committee of workers in the state under the “free staff mass transit scheme.

A novelty has positively been observed in the state civil service- for the first time in the history of the state, workers received the 13th month salary as a Christmas bonus.

Biometric Data capturing introduced by the state government has taken care of the bedbug called ghost workers through which the state lost an unimaginable huge sum of revenue.

Workers and pensioners now receive their salaries/gratuities as at when due, just as the state Board of Internal Revenue now known as Imo Internal Revenue Service (IIRS) has been reorganized and refurbished for increased revenue generation.

With a budget proposal of N474.4 billion for the 2023 fiscal year tagged “budget of wealth expansion” the governor in his speech at the stakeholders meeting for the year 2023 held on Thursday 5th January 2023 inter-alia said “with 72% of the 2023 budget mapped out for capital projects, you do not need a prophet to tell you that nothing will stop us from consolidating our total transformation agenda for our dear state. Our priority is to expand wealth creation through the construction of massive rural road infrastructure and by paying more attention to the growth of agriculture education and transportation among other sectors.

It is the expectation of the people that God will guide, direct and strengthen him to make the state the envy of all.