•How Uzodimma ended familocracy, restored order

•His achievements in two years more than Okorocha’s eight years

By Clifford Ndujihe

Former member of Imo House of Assembly and now Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon. Declan Emelumba, has picked holes in claims by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, 2019 Governorship Candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, that the PDP would snatch Imo from the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Governor Hope Uzodimma in 2023.

According to him, if the Supreme Court had not recovered Uzodimma’s mandate from Ihedioha, the ousted PDP standard bearer’s  performance would have made former Governor Rochas Okorocha a saint.

In this chat, Emelumba, who among others spoke on state of affairs in Imo and how Governor Uzodimma is turning the fortunes of the state around, said if election was held now, the governor would win with a landslide margin on account of his good performance, adding that the governor has fixed 46 strategic roads and restored relative peace to the state.

Asked if Imo people would re-elect Governor Uzodimma if election was held now given Chief Ihedioha’s boast that the PDP would take over in 2023, Emelumba said: ‘’Hope Uzodimma will record a landslide victory because he has restored democracy in Imo. Before, what we had under Okorocha was familocracy. Uzodimma has restored order and sanity and Imo people can say they are part of running the state. He has held four stakeholders meetings and constituted the Elders Consultative Forum that will be inaugurated soon.

‘’He introduced people’s budget where stakeholders in the local governments make inputs into what should be in the budget. The budget is put on the web, performance is monitored and every kobo spent is verifiable. He has automated the system. There is evidence of work on ground. What Uzodimma has done in two years surpassed what Okorocha did in eight years.

‘’Ihedioha saying he will drive Hope Uzodimma out of the Government House in 2023 is hallucination. Ihedioha has never won Imo governorship. He lost to Okorocha in 2025 and has never had spread  (25 percent of votes cast in two-thirds of 27 local councils of the state). In 2019, he had negotiated victory. Secondly, he is not telling Imo people why he is eyeing Imo Government House. In the seven months he was there, he did not execute any meaningful project. If he had spent four years, Ihedioha would have made Okorocha a saint.’’

On how the state government is boosting tourism given the poor state of the Nekede Botanical and Zoological Garden, Emelumba said the zoological garden and Oguta Lake would soon be concessioned and given to the private sector to run while the government provides an enabling environment.

On state of affairs in Imo

Imo is moving forward. A lot has happened since the last time we met. Last time, I told you we were about commissioning many roads. We have done that, and it is to the credit of Imo State that the President himself was one of those who commissioned the roads. Others include the Vice President, Senate President and State Governors. Many of them commissioned roads because they came to witness so that people would not say that we’re just blowing hot air and propaganda.

Many of the roads we did are strategically positioned. When the governor came in, he did an assessment and identified those roads that had to do with the commercial and economic nerve of the state. We did the Relief Market Road which was commissioned the same day. Relief Market Road had been in disrepair for more than 15 years and the road leads to the Main Market in Owerri. The road became so bad that people couldn’t go to the market, those who had property along that route had to relocate. But now, the market is back to life.

The MCC Uratta road is under construction but Chukwuma Nwaoha Road is on that major road, it is very significant because it’s a bypass from Umuahia Road to the town. So if you’re coming from Umuahia, you don’t really have business going to Fire Service, and so on. You just bypass it. That road had also been in disrepair for almost 15 years, so obsolete that it was completely taken over no longer by potholes but gulleys. We did it and realised it.

I think most significant of all which President Muhammadu Buhari commissioned was this Balloon driven technology that has taken away flood water from the major parts of Owerri.

How does the technology work?

It is underground. I may not remember the exact dimensions but they are very big, and can take a vehicle in terms of width. Owerri has had this problem of perennial flooding since it was created. Right now, when it rains, it takes water directly from Chukwuma Nwaoha Road, MCC- Uratta road, Relief Market Road, all those areas, to Otamiri River. Whenever it rains now, Owerri is no longer in danger. Before, floods used to swallow vehicles and so on.

The second phase will also come, which will go along Alvan Road. When that is finished, Owerri would be flood-free completely. What the government is doing is looking at the things that will improve commerce, industry, and real estate business through road infrastructure.

Road revolution

We call it the road revolution. We have done 46 roads within just two years. There’s also the bypass from Onitsha. If you are coming from Onitsha to Owerri, you don’t have business with the Town Centre, you will just bypass it. All these have helped to ease traffic. Or you are heading to Onitsha, you don’t have to pass through Control, or coming from Mbaitolu, you just bypass and enter Onitsha Road. We have done this road junction improvement, we are remodelling roundabouts, just like they did in Lagos we don’t have roundabouts in Owerri again.

And people, when they come in, they think they’re either in Lagos or abroad and it has helped traffic flow.

There has been a lot in terms of road infrastructure but I think the very fundamental ones are two. One is from Orlu, they call it Banana Junction to Owerri. It is a major federal road that links mainly all the communities in the Orlu axis. The governor is dualising it and it is being done by a German multinational company. It is a major project.

Another one is from Okigwe to Orlu which cuts across virtually all the communities in Imo. So by the time these two major roads are finished, it will definitely impact tremendously on commerce, business, industry, investment and movement of goods.

These are two major roads that really defined Uzodimma’s administration. It is costing the state government about N58 billion to fix. You ask yourself how the government is getting this money, it goes through prudent management of resources.

These are some of the things the government has done. And I want to start from there in terms of the difference he has made. In Owerri today, most of the roads inside the metropolis are motorable unlike what you had before. Virtually all the roads in Owerri Town were not motorable when we came in.

On insecurity in Imo

Basically, we can say that peace has returned to Imo State – relative peace. Before now, we’ve had this bombardment of unknown gunmen, banditry and so on. It was almost alarming, like every week you would hear one story or the other about dare-devil attacks on police stations, human beings, etc. The government took it as a challenge. It was a big challenge and the governor took it head-on through the cooperation of the President and the security agencies. The people were fazed also to confront them head-on and by the grace of God, we have been able to stop them at least from continuing with their relentless attacks and breach of security in the state.

The thing was heightened when they attacked the Nigeria Correctional Centre in Owerri and released about 1800 inmates. These are criminals who were either in prison or awaiting trial or whatever. So they went back to society and increased the number of criminals who were prowling the streets. And so the thing became so much but the governor was determined and did not sleep.

As we talk today, Imo is relatively peaceful. Business has returned, night life has returned, normal activities have returned. So, people can sleep now with their eyes closed but that is not to say that we will not hear occasional incidents here and there. These are normal. There’s no society that is crime-free but what we’re saying is that abnormal situations where people could barely move about their businesses out of fear, and frequently you hear about well organised attacks, have stopped. Imo is relatively peaceful. Like I said, the credit goes to the Governor’s determination, the assistance of the President of the country, and the cooperation of all the security agencies. Their synergy helped in abating the crime to a very reasonable extent.

What is the latest about Rochas Okorocha’s tussles with the state?

I have tremendous respect for Senator Okorocha, he is the Senator from my zone but I think the major problem is that by his nature, the man is a stranger to the law. He doesn’t understand what law means. And he has never been cut out for obeying laws or understanding that the society is governed by laws. When he was governor, he operated outside the rule of law. He even said that he doesn’t have patience for due process and the law.

He forgot to understand that when you finish your tenure, the people have a right to hold you accountable, to ask you to give account of your stewardship. He forgot to understand that that is allowed within the democratic norms and the laws of the land.

It was the government of Emeka Ihedioha that set up commissions to inquire into his contracts, land use and related matters and these commissions stunned him in their reports.

The government brought out a White Paper and indicted him heavily. Because he’s not used to obeying the law, he is thinking it is a personal problem he has, maybe with the present governor. It’s not. It’s a simple matter. He has a problem with the law and the earlier he faces it, the better.

This is like a Judicial Commission of Inquiry which is legitimate in a democratic setting. And they finished their assignment, turned in their report to the government, the government brought it and it was debated at Exco. The Exco approved it and a White Paper was issued – another legitimate process.

When the matter started, he went to court to stop it, the court refused. When Governor Uzodimma came on board, he approached him to stop it, the governor told him that he cannot do this because he didn’t set up these inquiries, and moreover, he thinks that he is in agreement with the mood of Imo people, that he doesn’t want to play against the tide.

So, when the White Paper came out, he decided to take the law into his hands. Property that was seized because it was flagged as a property acquired with state funds which he said belonged to his wife, he went to unseal it by force. He carried thugs to unseal it and the police stopped him.

READ ALSO: IMO: How Uzodimma is making himself another Mbakwe — Emelumba

He’s like seeing himself above the law because he operated like that for eight years as a governor. Somehow, he still thinks he is the governor. When he gives the impression that there’s a problem, there’s no problem. He only has a problem with the law, and the earlier he faces it, the better for him. Because you cannot escape the long arm of the law. If your hands are clean, you don’t have to be afraid of anything because the law is also blind. It doesn’t look at anybody’s face.

So, the problem is him accepting that the society is governed by law and he is just a citizen of the country and he has to obey the law. If he does that, he won’t have any problem with anybody.

People accused your governor of wanting to rig the Anambra governorship election. Can you explain his role in that?

It is amazing because the man was given an assignment by his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. He didn’t apply for the assignment. The party saw him fit to be the chairman of the governorship campaign APC in Anambra State. Being a loyal party man, who also is happy that the party has such confidence in him, he accepted the role and what he did was to go there and campaigned for the APC to win. That was what he was asked to do. He campaigned and made sure that he carried out a very successful campaign. And having finished with that, his job stops from the day the election was held. He is not an INEC official. He had finished his campaign and  that was why he wasn’t even there during the election. The decision as to who wins or who doesn’t win was now left to Anambra people and he had no role to play there.

There is this perception that the loyalty of the governor is more with the Caliphate and the North than with the Igbo. What is your reaction to that?

If you look at the history of Senator Uzodimma, you will find that he has been a businessman all along. He went to the Senate from that background of a businessman, so he has been an independent man. As a businessman, I didn’t know any caliphate person that was his chairman. If he so loves them as they say, you would have heard that in his private companies he has them there. I’m not aware of that. I don’t have any history of that. And so he came from that background and went to the Senate and came out and became governor.

He is a man who has respect for constituted authority. He is a Christian, and he believes that anybody who is occupying the position has been given to him by God. That’s what our Christian faith tells us. He had the same respect for former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he was there. He had the same respect for Umaru Musa Yar’Adua when he was there, as well as former President Goodluck Jonathan when he was there, and the same thing he is having with President Buhari. There’s no difference.

The only difference is that he is now a governor, which makes it even more mandatory that he should be closer to the power at the centre so he can attract things to his people. That’s what people mistake to be a friend of the Caliphate.

Some people are trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. He is more Igbo than many of those who are trying to question him because he has been a champion or an advocate of justice for Igbo people. He has always carried it as a priority in his public appearances, speeches and even while he was in the Senate.

He’s going to present a book very soon on the Igbo question and the way forward, authored by him. He has always had that burning passion and desire on the Igbo question on how Igbo can get justice. So it’s not a matter of noise making, a matter of trying to make unnecessary propaganda politically.

There was a time the opposition said he was going to rename  Imo State University Abba Kyari University. Of course that was not true but these are what people say just to get cheap political popularity.

There was even a time they said he had created three Emirates in Imo. My governor is a nationalist, he believes in co-existence, you can’t take that away from him. He believes in live and let’s live. He believes that our people are living in virtually all parts of this country. They are at the mercy of the laws of the land, which allow people to co-habit. That’s what he’s also trying to do in Imo. If you are a resident, you have the right, and he feels he has an obligation to protect you just like our people who are also living outside the state also have such rights to be protected by their host.

So, that’s what he wants to do, show an example so that you can’t treat Imo people, who are outside bad. These are some of the things. The man has vision, understands and believes in the unity of this country, and believes that our problems no matter how terrible they might be, there are many many ways of approaching them and getting the same solution. So I think that I can say emphatically that Uzodimma is more Igbo than a lot of people claiming to be carrying the Igbo cause on their heads.

At the height of the unknown gunmen issue, the media heard that the government invited the military including the Air Force, and some places in Imo land which had never experienced bombs were now attacked by the Air Force. Can you react to that?

On inviting the army, I want to say that if you are in government, and the lives and property of the people are threatened, what will you do? Before now, in the Orsu axis, every day, people were harassed, women were raped. It was like a lawless society as a band of criminals were harassing the society. It was the same people who were saying that the government was looking helplessly while people were being killed that are now complaining.

I remember what triggered all these things. It was the opposition, who planted false propaganda in social media that the government had given reserved land for Ruga, to Hausa people in Orlu and herdsmen were already there preparing the place. So, these young men who said they’re about to protect the interest of Igbo, were enraged by that and they came to Orlu, looking for the place, a non-existent place, and in the process, law and order broke down in Orlu.

This was the root of what the opposition planted. And of course, it would be very irresponsible of a government to watch helplessly as this continued to happen. The police were overwhelmed because they couldn’t really contain it because these were armed people. At that time they were targeting the police. Anywhere they saw police at checkpoints, they shot at them, they were killing the police.

The police even had to run away, left their stations. So it was becoming anarchy in that area, and the government had no choice than to do everything that was possible to bring back order and sanity, and it included strengthening security by bringing in the soldiers. Now the point is that they were brought to restore order, not to make life more miserable for the people.

The same people who triggered insecurity in the area just to make the government look helpless. The same people were now sad that security has been restored through applying this strengthening security are the people who are now saying that he brought the army to kill them. I keep asking who are the people that these soldiers have killed like the isolated cases or accidental discharge but who are the people? They won’t tell you. They will just say that he brought the army to kill their people but they will not tell you that the same army restored peace in the area.

When you talk about the Air Force, saying that the air force has bombed places more than during the war, we are in the social media age. I don’t know how many times, if it was that frequent, as they claimed, I can assure you that these people, out of their desperation to prove their point, would have been able to capture some images that they would have sent where the Air Force were bombing. I can’t remember seeing an Air Force going to bomb a place but there are one or two occasions when there was surveillance to determine where criminals were around the axis of Orsu and Ihiala in Anambra, and those areas.

There was a video about the gunshots and all that…

No. I can tell you there was a time that there was a video that went viral that the Imo State House of Assembly was on fire. And they sent that video of a house burning actually but it was a video of a building burning in Ghana. So you can go to the internet and get false planes, with guns and whatever. What is the evidence that it was in Orlu and Orsu?

What about the land grabbing controversy in Oguta?

The governor has made it clear that there is nothing like Ruga. The government has plans to bring some integrated farm settlements for the people which is being co-sponsored by the Federal Government. The people who are always looking for what to say against the government said it was Ruga. We have even gone to address the people and clear the air and they are satisfied that it has nothing to do with Ruga.