By Douglas Anele

There is an unstated or implicit consensus among ndi Imo, particularly those parts of old Imo State that constitute the present state, to the effect that since the late Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe’s governorship ended in 1983, the state has never witnessed purposeful, people-oriented, governance. In other words, the administration of Mbakwe remains the gold standard for judging the performance of any administration in Imo State.

There is no patina of doubt that the “weeping” governor’s crusade for justice in the abandoned property issue, vision and achievements in infrastructural and industrial development of Imo State endeared him to the people.

Moreover, despite some failures by his government, including allegations of personal enrichment, Mbakwe demonstrated laudable leadership qualities which make my people to still revere him 28 years after he had left office. Unfortunately, no other governor since then has provided the kind of visionary leadership Mbakwe gave to the state.

Therefore, although one can identify some modest achievements by governors that came afterwards, much more would have been achieved if they had followed and built on the foundation laid by Mbakwe. At present, Imo State is in a state of arrested development.

Ikedi Ohakim, formerly of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), was lucky to be governor in 2007, because internal wrangling and shambolic organisation by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Imo State chapter paved the way for him. Four years after, between April 26 and May 8, 2011, Ohakim lost his position to Rochas Okorocha of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

Several reasons contributed to Ohakim’s defeat in the last election. To begin with, he fought a series of gruesome legal battles which eventually ended in his favour. According to unconfirmed sources, Ohakim allegedly spent billions of naira to secure victory at the courts, badly needed funds that could have been deployed to develop the state. The allegations may not be far-fetched, given the increasing propensity of magistrates and judges for cash-and-carry judgments.

Furthermore, the out-going governor has been having a very turbulent tenure. Probably due to his own character weaknesses and murky antecedents, he made a lot of enemies which ultimately affected his performance in office and imperiled his ambition for a second term.

For instance, the widely-publicised brutalisation of Samuelson Iwuoha, a relentless critic of his administration, created the impression that Ohakim is a local tyrant who will not hesitate to use brute force to silence those opposed to him. And, despite denials by agents of the state government, people had already accepted that Iwuoha was indeed, physically maltreated by the governor, based on the strength of photographs of Iwuoha’s mutilated body in newspapers.

What about the manhandling of Rev. Fr. Eustace Okorie by Ohakim’s security details for allegedly obstructing the governor’s convoy with his vehicle? It is definitely wrong, especially in a fledgling democratic setting, to beat up someone, a bona fide citizen of Nigeria and Catholic priest in a predominantly Christian state for that matter, just for obstructing the noisy and sometimes accident-prone motorcade of a VIP. After all, the country is not under a dictatorship. Ohakim belatedly tried to placate outraged Catholics, especially women. He visited some churches and donated money and some musical instruments.

He chose a woman, Professor Onwuliri who is a Catholic, as running-mate. But it appears that his appeasement gestures could not repair the damage done already to his re-election bid. Again, Ohakim’s critics allege that he is a clever brand strategist and marketer who performs wonders on the pages of newspapers and billboards which differ substantially from the realities on ground. “IRROMA”, “Clean and Green”, “The New Face of Imo”, and “Let’s Do More” were some of the catch phrases coined by Ohakim and his team to sell the dummy that good things are happening in Imo State.

In reality, only few projects have been completed by the administration. Imo people scornfully enumerate many phantom or no-existent projects which the administration claims either to have completed or are at various stages of completion.

To be candid, in my hometown, Owerri-Nkworji, I am not aware of any developmental project completed since Ohakim became governor. Even Ukwu-Egbu road in Ishi-Owerri my village, which is less than five kilometres long, is still in a state of disrepair up till now. Ohakim promised to employ 10,000 people in Imo State.

Yet, in spite of the publicity generated by the programme, no one knows exactly how many Imo indigenes have benefited from it. This lack of transparency lends credence to the suspicion that Gov. Ohakim merely used the opportunity to raise money for his re-election plan. Ohakim is an intelligent persuasive speaker.

However, on many occasions he tends to boast too much. During his declaration to run for a second term and electioneering, for instance, he boasted that he would trounce his opponents; that he had the political structure to get the job done, that unlike them he is not a creation of the media because he is fully on ground. It did not occur to him that rallying the support of expired, ineffectual, politicians like Arthur Nzeribe and Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was like fighting a modern war with bows and arrows.

Ohakim introduced an inappropriate lexicon to the vocabulary of electioneering in Imo State. In one of his campaign rallies at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, he called himself ikiri (galago) and a lion. Ikiri is the Igbo name for one of the long-eared, long-tailed nocturnal African lemurs noted for the tenaciousness of its grip on anything, even unto death.
To be continued