In the face of all the brouhaha and topsy-turvy surrounding the debacle on Imo State at the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the people of Imo State have done and doing the only thing that they can do under the circumstances viz pray!
Imo people had prayed, they have prayed and am aware they’re still praying in and by faith for Supreme God Almighty to remain Supreme God of the Supreme Court!
Specifically, however, there are some factors that the good people of Imo State hinge their faith and convictions on. They include the following:
1. Imo people came out in large numbers on Saturday, March 9, 2019 and cast their votes for Gov. Emeka Ihedioha.
2. On Monday, March 11, 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in its wisdom and reasons declared Ihedioha winner of the election and governor-elect.
3. Since his inauguaration on May 29, 2019, Gov. Ihedioha hit the ground running, working and restoring Imo State.
4. Gov. Ihedioha assembled some of the best brains in Imo State and appointed them into his administration. The appointees were all round pegs in round holes or square pegs in square holes.
5. Gov. Ihedioha granted full autonomy to the local government system in Imo State. That entailed financial independence.
6. Gov. Ihedioha supported the 27 LGAs in their decisions to build 27 mini-stadiums and 27 Administrative Secretariats, with thousands of classroom desks and chairs for public schools.
7. Gov. Ihedioha was committed and poised to conduct LG elections but certain bottlenecks scuttled it temporarily.
8. Gov. Ihedioha ensured that, in the spirit of LG Autonomy, 100% of LG finances were accessed and controlled by the Interim Management Committees of the 27 LGAs.
9. In the education sector, Gov. Ihedioha restored the technical education and vocational training by commencing the construction of Technical Blocks at the four Government Technical Colleges in Owerri, Ahiazu Mbaise, Isiala Mbano and Okporo Orlu.
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10. Gov. Ihedioha ensured the on-job-training and retraining of teachers and head teachers in Imo State.
11. Gov. Ihedioha directed that the teaching of Igbo Language become compulsory in Imo State schools.
12. Gov. Ihedioha restored 100% salaries and pensions from the 70% and 40% that he inherited.
13. Gov. Ihedioha introduced the payment of pensions by bank alerts, after a biometric verification of pensioners that revealed that there were over 8000 ghost pensioners in the State. That saved Imo State over N280 million monthly.
14. Gov. Ihedioha signed Order 005 to introduce the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and eliminated 250 bank accounts that were hitherto being operated by the State. He, thereby, plugged holes for leakages and stealing of public money by unscruplous, evil and wicked officials of past rogue regime.
15. Gov. Ihedioha ensured a clean environment in Imo State, particularly in Owerri city and townships of Orlu and Okigwe. He robustly reinforced Imo ENTRACO and motivated environmental sanitation.
16. Gov. Ihedioha ensured that gutters, drainages, flood channels, lakes and rivers in and around Owerri Municipal city were desilted and opened for a better environment.
17. Gov. Ihedioha invested heavily in youth skills acquisition training and empowerment programmes, with thousands of Imo youths trained in various technology-based skills, fintech, agribusiness and agropreneurship.
18. Gov. Ihedioha opened up a programme of employment of Imo people with 5000 job opportunities being processed for the education sector.
19. Gov. Ihedioha signed into law, ten bills passed by the Imo State House of Assembly (IMHA).
20. Gov. Ihedioha restored the Ahiajoku Festival and its Ahiajoku Lecture Series.
21. Gov. Ihedioha restored state organized sports competitions, with reintroduction of the State Sports Festival.
22. Gov. Ihedioha commenced the comprehensive renovation of dilapidated Dan Anyiam Stadium and Grasshoppers International Stadium, Owerri.
23. Gov. Ihedioha restored the operation of public health centres and hospitals in Imo State.
25. Gov. Ihedioha grew the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Imo State from N250 to N1.18 billion within seven months.
26. Gov. Ihedioha restored the budgetary best practices, with verifiable appropriation processes from the MDAs.
27. Gov. Ihedioha restored the Bureau for Public Procurement and Price Intelligence (BPPPI) to guarantee controls over contract awards etcetera.
28. Gov. Ihedioha created the Bureau for Ease of Doing Business to enhance the economic growth and development of Imo State.
29. Gov. Ihedioha created the Bureau for Diaspora Affairs in the Office of the Governor to assist Imo people in Diaspora so as to be directly involved in the workings runnings of the State.
30. Gov. Ihedioha reinforced the Imo State Investment Promotion Agency (ISIPA) to ensure that Imo people invested in the development of the State.
31. Gov. Ihedioha created the Imo State Power and Rural Electrification Agency (I-POREA) to ensure that no community in Imo State lacked public electricity supply.
32. Gov. Ihedioha paid various counterpart funding for foreign donor agencies to return to Imo State and continue on projects.
33. Gov. Ihedioha paid N500 million counterpart funding to get the World Bank/International Development Association/NEWMAP progamme back on track, leading to the multi billion naira erosion control projects, beginning with the erosion control project at Ezemazu Uruala in Ideato North LGA.
34. Gov. Ihedioha paid N500 million counterpart funding for the Rural Access Mobility Project (RAMP) road construction project to be resumed in Imo State with over 45 roads across Imo State valued at about N13.8 billion.
35. Gov. Ihedioha awarded contracts for the construction of 25 key and strategic roads in Imo State.
36. Gov. Ihedioha procured state-of-the-art fire-fighting trucks, machinery and equipment.
37. Gov. Ihedioha restored Ekeukwu Owerri Market and opened up Douglas Road to use after more than two years of closure.
38. Gov. Ihedioha was committed to saving lives of Imo people by considering the reconstruction of the tottering, wobbly flyover bridges and tunnels in Owerri.
39. Gov. Ihedioha restored prayerful, low key Christmas celebration by the Government of Imo State.
40. Gov. Ihedioha began the commissioning of projects in December 2019 with the commissioning of 28-offices Administrative Secretariat of Ahiazu Mbaise LGA.
Certainly, there are many more achievements that time and space won’t permit to catalogue here in this short essay. But indeed, Gov. Ihedioha was project oriented. And all his projects were people-oriented and Imo people were feeling the anointing of the projects as it touched them individually and collectively directly.
For all of the above, it’s little wonder that Imo people are on their knees, with Bible and chaplets on their hands praying, singing, dancing and crying to God Almighty to remember His miracle of liberation of Imo people on Saturday, March 9, 2019!
The Bible teaches that if anyone has done all that’s required for him or her to stand, he or she should stand. That’s where Imo people are right now, having cast their votes and prayed for the justice of God to prevail. It’s, therefore, over to God! In Jesus’name. Amen!
By Ogu Bundu Nwadike, M.A
