By Jude Ndukwe
As Dr Okezie Ikpeazu commences his
“Second Missionary Journey” as Executive Governor of Abia State from May 29,
2019, people of the State already seem to know what to expect from their
governor. With the resoundingly successful performance in his first tenure, and
the promise to cover more ground, the people had no hesitation whatsoever to
keep faith with him when it was time for the 2019 governorship election, and
did so in an overwhelming manner to the extent that his closest opponents came
distant 2nd and 3rd respectively. It was indeed one election that has been
adjudged the freest, fairest, most peaceful, most transparent and most credible
in the history of the State. It was an election where the people did not only
speak but spoke loudly about their choice to stick with the incumbent despite a
cacophony of calumny and deliberate misinformation that became the hallmark of
his political opponents in the period leading to the election.
But having seen what Dr Okezie Ikpeazu
was capable of doing in his first tenure despite multiple baseless and bitter
litigations instituted against him that lasted for three years, the booby traps
of propaganda, half-truths and outright falsehood launched against him by his
political opponents, lean resources accruable to the state and such other
challenges, the people refused to be swayed by any other factor except the
plethora of incontrovertible evidence of strong sociopolitical and economic
policies and verifiable projects that have etched the name of the Governor indelibly
in their hearts as the right man to lead them on the next phase of Abia’s
journey to The Promised Land. An Igbo saying has it that when the first journey
is sweet, we embark on it a second time even with enthusiasm. That is exactly
what Abians have done with the reelection of Dr Okezie Ikpeazu with massive
numbers at the last election.
There is hardly any other state
government in Nigeria that can boast of having completed over 70 road projects
with 90 others at various levels of completion in just four years especially
with Abia’s well documented lean resources. Ikpeazu has not just built those
numbers of roads, he builds roads that are of strategic importance to the
people especially as a state renowned for its unmatchable and age-long prowess
in trade and commerce.
For example, the seemingly incurable
Faulks Road at Aba, though still undergoing top notch engineering surgery, now
wears a new look and cured of its incessant tempest of seasonal flooding.
Before now, people of Abia and those who ply that road had thought that there
were some supernatural forces dwelling at Ama Ikonne and Ife-Obara that were
resisting all previous efforts at totally eliminating the perennial flooding
that militated against the solid construction of Faulks Road until those
“supernatural powers” were arrested by the superiority thinking and engineering
masterpiece deployed by the Governor. Today, Faulks Road has been delivered of
its “principalities and powers”; it is now a beauty to behold and a joy to ply.
To achieve this feat, not many know
that Dr Okezie Ikpeazu had to sack the contractor that was hitherto handling
the project when it became obvious that the scope of the work was beyond his
ability. Probably the enormity of what was expected of him by the governor
overwhelmed him. Then SETRACO, an A-list construction company was awarded the
contract while the Governor specifically requested for a site engineer from the
Netherlands who are the best in underwater management to come work with local
consultants and then give a plan for the job. That plan came with a 6.5km
underground drainage with pumps designed to pump water intermittently along the
way to Waterside from Ife-Obara. This also culminated in the dredging of
Waterside and Ife-Obara to ensure that they can take water in their full
capacities without spilling to the roads and cause flooding.
It is important that these details are
highlighted to underscore the importance Governor Okezie Ikpeazu places on
scientific assessment of such challenges, the meticulous planning that goes
into tackling them and the political will to do novel things that bring world
class lasting solutions to local challenges.
The reason why any governor would go
this far in tackling any challenge in a state is because such a governor does
not want to do just any job, shoddy and cheap, to hoodwink the people for
political purposes, only for the roads to collapse shortly after. Such a
governor like Dr Ikpeazu takes his time to ensure quality job is done every
time because he has not the next election but the next generation in mind. And
this mark of quality is etched on every of his project. This is why the ongoing
Osisioma flyover is imbued with quality; this is why the renovated Enyimba
International Stadium reeks of quality; this is why the new Model Schools that
dot different parts of the state ooze quality, etc.
Talking about the model schools in
particular and the education sector in general, Governor Ikpeazu has rolled out
policies and projects that guarantee Abians of continued top performances in
both local and international exams. For example, it is on record that Abia
State is not only first in WASSCE among states of the federation, she has
maintained this position for four consecutive years: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and
still counting. Despite efforts by far more financially endowed states to
overtake her in this regard, Ikpeazu has ensured that does not happen, to their
continued chagrin.
The latest JAMB/UTME results show that
a 16-year-old Abian is among the best two out of over a million candidates that
sat for the exam across the nation.
With the construction of 359 new
classroom blocks, 70 of them reconstructed and 4 new model schools spread across
the three senatorial districts of the state, locally manufactured furniture
deployed for use in them, equipped with modern libraries and laboratories,
feeding of pupils in Primary 4 – 6 every school day making Abia the only
state in the entire federation where all her pupils are fed in school since the
federal government feeds pupils of Primary 1 – 3 nationwide, etc it becomes so
easy to decipher the mindset of the Governor about our children and youths. As
leaders of tomorrow, Dr Ikpeazu who himself is a scholar, knows the importance
of giving children of the state a befitting learning environment to bring out
the best in them always, prepare them for the onerous task of leadership and
nation building, and give them a future that ensures they are able to compete
favourably anywhere in the world and be the best they can be without fear or
doubt. Little wonder school enrolment rate in Abia jumped from about 115,000 in
2015 to over 600,000 today!
During one of his recent visits to some
schools in the state, Dr Ikpeazu directed the immediate construction of 13 new
more Model Schools and 300 more new classroom blocks across the state while
vowing to continue the State school feeding programme with the possibility of
even extending it to junior secondary class students.
The teachers who have the enviable
responsibility of moulding these children are also not left out. Over three
thousand primary school teachers have undergone different forms of training and
retraining by an Australian NGO. About 40 other teachers will soon go to
Australia in furtherance of the training and it is expected that when they
return they shall in turn train others. This is one of the reasons for the
establishment of the Abia Teacher Training Continuing Education Centre at
Umuahia by the Ikpeazu-led administration.
In order to further empower Abia youths
and entrepreneurs, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu personally got involved in the
promotion of Made in Aba goods, sponsoring exhibitions for them both at home
and abroad, sent 30 shoemakers to China to enhance their skills with those
trained returning to train others back home, and procured modern shoemaking
machines from China to greatly enhance quality, quantity and speed of output of
Aba shoemakers. Today, military and paramilitary organizations procure their
uniforms and boots from Abia State; the same goes for several federal
institutions who now turn to Abia for their scientific, technological, garment,
leather, wood and other needs.
The Enyimba Economic City is what
informed economic watchers and political analysts have dubbed “Mother of all
Projects” in this clime because of its gargantuan scope and expected humongous
returns and benefits to the State and her people in particular and Nigeria in general.
If there is any project that befittingly crowns Dr Ikpeazu as a true
trans-generational leader, it is the EEC. It is a project that mirrors the
limitless possibilities of his thought processes and his fearlessness to
achieve the impossible.
As its name implies, Enyimba Economic
City is an industrial hub spanning a huge land mass of about 9,800 hectares
covering three local governments of the state with strategic proximity to 9
southeast and south south states, seated directly on a large gas reserve belt
and bordered by potential seaports, all of which enhance the industrial
viability and business opportunities of the new "Dubai of
Africa".
The concept and development of EEC has
been attracting rave reviews from both local and international investors for
its vast potentials. Even the Federal Government has bought a 20% stake in it.
The cherry on the cake is that the City has been designated a Free Trade Zone,
a mouthwatering incentive for investors worldwide. On completion, the City
which shall have uninterrupted power supply is expected to offer a massive
700,000 jobs to the youths and also enhance the already existing business
clusters all over Aba and beyond.
The larger implications of this is that
even if oil dries up in the nearest future or goes out of need by the world as
is being projected, Abia State will still survive, thrive and prosper
comfortably based on the massive revenue she will generate from the EEC. What
this means is that while others do not know where their next meal would come from
when oil goes into extinction, Ikpeazu has already secured the future of Abians
against such shocks. It takes a man of uncommon vision to think far ahead and
make hay for his people while the sun shines. The Governor alluded to this fact
himself concerning the EEC and his vision when he told ThisDay newspaper
"...in doing this I needed to be futuristic, I didn’t need to be an
election politician but I want to be politician for development.” And I dare
add, a politician for the next generation.
All this would not have been
achieved if the governor had not taken security serious. Today, despite the
malignant security threats afflicting the nation, Abia has remained the safest
State in the country. Despite the violent deaths that marred the last election
in different parts of the country, Abia recorded no death.
To prove that Governor Ikpeazu's works
of fulfilling his promises of today and guaranteeing the future for Abians has
already started bearing real fruits, Abia was recently rated among the first
three States with the highest Foreign Direct Investment only after Abuja and
Lagos, and one of the only five states with the best ratings in the Ease of
Doing Business index. Others are Kaduna, Enugu, Lagos and Anambra. These
are no mean achievements by the Governor; they are not accidental feats but
results of brilliant thinking, deliberate planning and uncommon doggedness to
see things through to their logical conclusion, coupled with the Governor’s
exceptional ability to build a team of stars who completely share his passion
for a greater Abia.
From the foregoing, it is very clear
that Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu is not only concerned about the Abia of today but
also an Abia of tomorrow. This is why his policies and projects of today have a
sociopolitical and economic umbilical cord tied to our tomorrow. Whatever he
does serves the people today and also serves as a pedestal upon which our
tomorrow stands solidly. These are part of the reasons he is Abia's
trans-generational leader!
