Emeka Ihedioha. Governor of Imo State. |
It
is a perverse and graceless state out here in Imo State. One is not talking
about the sheer dishevelment and post-hurricane scenarios right from the
Government Lodge down to the lost corners of the state. If a governor’s
dwelling place is in a state of disgrace, there is no telling how the rest of
his domain would be. No, I talk not about the bad behaviours of our immediate
past governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha; it’s about the long-term debilitating
effect of bad governance and about solution.
Again,
this is not even about the heavy physical damage he inflicted on a
once-beautiful, serene and upwardly mobile state. It is about the violence done
to our psyche, our esteem and worst of all, our institutions.
It
can be said that where there are no institutions, there really is no life in
the true sense of it because there is no human essence; no culture, no
tradition and of course no civilization. In this new age of mankind,
institution is everything. Peoples and countries that understand that
institutions are sacrosanct; those who have the best institutions will always
lead the world.
But
the Okorocha mystique was to obliterate and vanquish institutions. Thus for
eight years, he waged a relentless war against all the institutions there were
in Imo state. And of course he left no institutional edifice of his time; not a
trace. He did not only crash all systems, he pulled out the memory card and
yanked the hard drive.
Imo
today can be likened to a vacuous state; a blind blunder-head groping about in
the dark. Imo is devoid of any institutional memory whatsoever.
Consider
this scenario: Commissioners for Information for eight years are: 1. Obinna
Duruji, 2. Chinedu Offor; 3. TOE Ekechi, 4. Chidi Ibe; 5. Orikeze Ajumbe; 6.
Obinna Nshirim; 7. Nnamdi Obiaraeri; 8. Patrick Nze. There were about five
Secretaries to the State Government, about four commissioners for Land. This
was the trend in his governance. Then there was balkanization of ministries and
agencies, merging and de-merging including new ones like ministry of Happiness
and all that jazz.
All
of these were happening on the whims of Number one; as His Excellency woke up
each day. Strategic appointees of state were called up and yanked off even
before they were seated. In a situation like this, hardly any record is kept;
there was no proper understanding of the importance of documentation and
archiving, the state was run on the run so to speak.
In
an environment like this, it would of course be difficult to have a proper
report of stewardship or give account; especially if there was no intention to
hand over in the first place as was the case with former Governor Okorocha. It
is this manner of dilemma besetting the immediate past administration that has
made it very difficult if not impossible for it to handover its affairs of
eight years.
Of
course, anyone who knows about the running of government would discern that a
proper handover could not be achieved by the Okorocha Administration. That
there was no formal handover was made plain at the inauguration of the
Secretary of the Imo State Government recently. During the occasion, Governor
Emeka Ihedioha had called up the sitting Permanent Secretary of Government
House who was the most senior personnel left to take the in-coming members of
the new administration round the offices. He was asked about the status of
formal handing over.
The
Principal Secretary had told the audience in the hall that no handover had been
put to effect whereupon there was much angry rumbling in the audience.
It
must be noted that there was no formal meeting between the governor-elect and
the sitting governor in Imo State since the election was won and lost. Here was
no cooperation in the activities leading to the inauguration. A sham joint
transition committee was set up by the Okorocha administration which proposed elaborate
project visit, but it was only a ruse to distract the in-coming government.
There
have also been photographs of the cover of a handover note flying about in the
social media. Some handover note, a man with understanding would wonder. Even
if we assume that some notes are contained in that cover, the natural question
to ask is that is that all Owelle Okorocha has to handover after eight years?
For those who know, one consultancy and design report on one major road would
be bulkier that Okorocha’s eight-year report of stewardship.
Owelle
Okorocha has forgotten so soon how then Governor Ikedi Ohakim handed over to
him in 2011.
According
to officials who witnessed the ceremony held in the Exco Chamber of Imo
government House between top government officials led by Ohakim and the then
in-coming governor-elect Okorocha and his team. According to report, the
atmosphere was convivial between the sitting governor and the in-coming one.
Ohakim
was said to have brought a truck load of documents representing his four years
of stewardship which made Owelle Okorocha to joke that he wished all the
documents were cash. Ohakim also handed Okorocha other paraphernalia of office
as well as giving him confidential executive briefing.
It
was a serious and comprehensive state ceremony; it was an act of governance and
statecraft. More remarkable, it was an act of grace and statesmanship. Managing
a state is not only a serious business, it is a divine trust, it is about the
lives of millions of people and must be carried out with the sobriety and indeed
solemnity that it requires.
But
Owelle Okorocha turned governance into a plaything, an infantile affair and for
eight years, the governance of Imo State was like children playing in the sand,
trying to reenact governance within the ambit of their childish estimations.
The result today is pathetic to behold.
It
is true that there were other wayward governors who practically absconded from
government house without the right and proper transition procedures. This is unacceptable
and indeed a crime to the people of the states they had governed for so long
and abandoned at the end stage.
This
piece advocates for a legislation to set the standards and procedures for
‘trasitioning’ from one government/administration to the other. This is both
for the states and the federal government. In fact we suggest a publication of
each state’s audited accounts of an administration before a formal handover of
office. The law may also stipulate that an out-going governor MUST as a matter
of duty, personally account for his stewardship at the handover ceremony.
This
is a challenge to both the National Assembly and the States’ Houses of
Assembly. A well made law would keep state executives on their toes as they run
their states on a daily basis knowing that they would have to give a thorough
account at the end of the day. This way, no in-coming governor would be left
high and dry the way the Rochas Okorocha left Emeka Ihedioha.
We
must relentlessly interrogate the way our country is run if we want to march in
stride with the rest of the world.
*Osuji
is Media Aide to Governor Emeka Ihedioha.
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