The new Abia State governor, Victor Okezie Ikpeazu, last week gave residents of the state an indication that he was prepared to rectify the core infrastructure deficit in the state that hallmarked the eight-year administration of his immediate past predecessor, Chief Theodore Orji.
Three days after he was sworn-in as the 4th democratically elected governor of the state, Ikpeazu, a renowned biochemist and former general manager, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA), flagged-off the reconstruction of some decrepit roads in Aba, largely reputed as the commercial hub of the state.
The roads include the Umuola, Umuocham, Kamalu, Ukaegbu, Ehere, Umule, and Ukwu mango roads, known by even the blind to be inaccessible and a big minus to the past administration’s perceptible claim to administering good governance in the state.
At the flag-off ceremony of the 18.9 km roads, Governor Ikpeazu advised the contractors to do quality jobs as well as complete the rehabilitation work on schedule.
He warned that any contractor that did a shoddy job would be blacklisted by the state government.
“These roads are important to enable vehicular movement within the commercial nerve centre of Abia State. The complete renovation of these seven roads would be achieved within my first 100 days in office, and would be installed with street lights”, said the governor who was elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It would be recalled that while speaking at the Umuahia Township Stadium on May 29, 2015, shortly after he was sworn-in, the new governor said that since the state was endowed with both human and natural resources, his administration would vigorously exploit those resources to ensure rapid and even development of the state.
He further said that within the first 100 days in office his administration would commence the provision of critical infrastructure that would fast-track the economic development of the state, adding that the leather and garment clusters in Aba would be repositioned to accelerate the economic development of the state.
And going further Dr Ikpeazu promised to encourage the security agencies in the country to patronize uniforms and foot wears made in Aba, against the background that the products meet international standards.
He promised that Aba would reclaim its lost status as the industrial hub of the former Eastern Region through solving the epileptic power supply to the city which had forced many thriving companies to relocate from Aba to neighbouring countries including Togo and Ghana,
Not a few say that Governor Ikpeazu would find it difficult if not impossible to implement his campaign promises given the huge debt burden left by the immediate past administration in the state, and the near collapse of infrastructural facilities across the state.
For instance, reports from a section of the media, put the state debt profile at conservatively N200billion.
This amount is made up of foreign and local debts, and debts owed to contractors, civil servants, teachers and even local government workers.
The implication is that Governor Ikpeazu, would find ways and means of increasing the state’s internally generated revenue to reduce the state’s debt burden to its barest minimum.
According to Mr. Ndukwe Kalu, an Aba-based businessman, the governor’s decision to start his first day in office with the rehabilitation of some roads in Aba, is a calculated attempt to persuade residents of the blighted city, and indeed the people of the state, to embrace his administration with both hands, and forget the acrimony that greeted his emergence as the PDP gubernatorial candidate.
He may be correct. The groundswell of opposition against Ikpeazu’s emergence as the PDP gubernatorial candidate said Kalu, stemmed from the failure of the immediate past PDP administration in the state to spruce up the roads in Aba and other urban areas of the state; as well as provide the people with the proverbial democracy dividends.
And given this scenario, the consensus before the last gubernatorial election was that Ikpeazu would be a chip of the old block if elected governor.
Mazi Ogwo Udensi, another Aba-based businessman, said that though the past administration in the state built “some legacy projects”, he argued that such projects are elitist, and therefore incapable of improving the living standards of majority of the people.
“How would the construction of a new Government House and International Conference Centre, improve the living standard of a resident of Amaokwe Item in Bende local government area of the state, or Okagwe Ohafia in Ohafia local government area of the state who are striving to eke out a living”, queried Udensi.
It is probably against this background that a primary school teacher in Umuahia, the state capital, who spoke to LEADERSHIP on condition of anonymity, said,
“Governor Ikpeazu faces the challenge of assuring Abia people that his administration would not embark on grandiose projects that would only take care of the needs of the elites, rather than that of the greater number of citizens of the state. He also faces the challenge of assuring our people that he will not be a stooge of the immediate past governor of the state.”
Nevertheless, Uchenna Nwosu, a student of one of the tertiary institutions in the state, said that even if Governor Ikpeazu was committed to prosecuting people-oriented projects, the state debt profile would hinder the implementation of his campaign promises.
“The challenges facing Governor Ikpeazu, are quite enormous and overwhelming especially as it has to do with the huge debt left behind by his predecessor. It will take an extra-economic managerial skill to be able to raise funds to pay the debts, and still ensure the welfare and security of the people which are the major pre-occupation of government as provided for in the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
“There was a serious disconnect between the immediate past administration and the people of Abia State. The people were not part of the government at all.
“The people expected to see amenities and infrastructure that would impact positively on their lives, but none was forthcoming. So, Governor Ikpeazu should adopt a policy of inclusiveness in the governance of the state, and must put the necessary infrastructure on the ground to justify his election as governor”, said Nwosu.
Even then, not a few say the greatest challenge confronting Governor Ikpeazu, is how to wriggle out from the petition filed by the rival All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) challenging his victory before the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia,
“Governor Ikpeazu has a very bad case at the tribunal, and one wonders how he is going to wriggle out of it. APGA has hired erudite lawyers to argue its case before the tribunal, and I don’t see the PDP running away with victory.
“Governor Ikpeazu and the PDP are under obligation to provide evidence on how the PDP scored over 82,000 votes in Obingwa local government area.
Abia: Challenges Facing Gov Okezie Ikpeazu
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