IF I AM THE GOVERNOR OF ABIA STATE by Agbai Ina Obasi My people, the come has come again for us Abians to elect a new Governor of our Gods Own State - Abia. For the past decades, the people of Abia has suffered untold hardship in the hands of their elected leaders. I recalled years back in the eighties and early nineties when I had the opportunity of managing one of the new generation banks in Aba. At that time, Aba was known as the Jepan of Africa because of the enterprising nature of its numerous small scale industries. Shoes and other items manufactured in Aba was sold through out Nigeria and its neighboring countries. Other businesses in Aba were thriving in a peaceful environment. Aba was the toast of its neighboring towns whose people troop into Aba to transact various businesses. That time is now history as our people now languish in one of the worst environment in our country. Each time I see pictures of our Enyinba City now, I could hardly hold back tears for my people. How could our leaders suffer our people like this and still work around with their heads high? Lately, I have been seeing new candidates for governorship race in Abia. I must confess that there is improvement in the quality of the people seeking the post this time around. We now see people who have experience in management, administration and enterprise. But we should not be fooled again. We have seen where entrepreneurs who governed us before only grew their businesses to our detriment. We must therefore be wise this time around. Lets not be carried away by sympathetic phrases like personal sacrifice made on our behalf or my experience as a successful entrepreneur; or in government. A critical look at those phrases may reveal others facts that may support the intention of these political actors. I will just leave at that for now. Why has Abia State been so badly governed? The answer is a combination of bad leadership and the sycophant nature of our people. Therefore, for us to make progress, we must tackle both at the same time. We must elect a strong leaders not just at the Executive but also at the legislative levels who will resist the the sychophant trait of our people. Democracy thrives on Checks and Balances. Our Legislature at best have been dormant and at worst, sychophant to the Executive. No wonder, we have not experienced dividends of democracy. We must therefore begin now to look for an effective leader. A leader who will put the interest of our people above his personal interest. We must come up with a process that will produce this leader rather than just leaving it in the hands of the out going Governor. We must put our new contestant to task. The Candidates must tell what they can do for us if elected. They should go to the people and make commitments to them that the people can hold them accountable. The Candidates must also tell the people how they intend to achieve the goal or promises they make. The people of Abia must insist on public debates among these candidates. On the other hand, our people must minimize their expectation in terms of upfront gifts from the candidates. These sharing of rice and cash etc at rallies and political meetings only mortgages us to the candidates when eventually they get elected. It increases the cost of electioneering which the candidates must recoup hundred folds after the election. Therefore, for us to hold our elected officers accountable, we must stop mortgaging our souls to them prior to the election. In view of the above, if I am the governor of Abia State, the following will be my goals which must be achieved in my first term or at least substantially so: A) Road Infrastructure/ Clean Up. 1) The state will construct a paved dual carriage road in Aba from the Osisioma junction through Aba -Owerri road to the Aba park and from the park, through Port Harcourt road to the Enugu - Port Harcourt Highway. And from the park through Ogbor Hill road to the boundary of Abia State. 2) Along with this road construction will will to clean up Aba and other major towns in the state. The state shall partner with the private sector to build waste recycling plants capable of handling waste produced in the towns and turn it into manure to support our agricultural goal. 3) The state will construct major paved roads from Umuahia, the state capital, linking all the major areas of our state like Ngwa land, Arochuku, Isikwuato etc. B) Education: Each LGA will have at least three to four model schools- primary and secondary - depending on the size and number of towns in the LGA while ensuring that no teacher will be owed a salary at the end of every month. C) Agriculture: The state will encourage and provide counter part funding to each community to come up with its own Community Farm similar to the existing Community Banks. These will engage our teeming youth and make Abia state the food basket of the region. D) Health: Each LGA will have a modern, equipped hospital that will handle our most pressing health needs. The state will align with medical professionals from each LGA within and outside the country to ensure that these hospitals are properly manned, equipped and managed. E) Small Scale enterprise: The state shall provide infrastructural amenities and incentives that will support the growth of small scale manufacturing - the engine of every economy - where entrepreneurs will be encouraged to invest and grow with little or no government interference except for taxes after the grace period. F) Appointment of Commissioners: This shall be based on the persons commitment to the core belief that the work must be done. Their stay in office will depend on their productivity to the people of Abia. Commissioners shall no longer be left for the sycophants whose major goal has been to to either helplessly and selfishly watch the governor do the wrong thing things or enrich themselves and the governor at the expense of our people. The above is a summary of my priorities in the first year if I am the governor of Abia state. With these basics in the kitty, we can begin to plan and do big things for our people subsequently. These projects are achievable if our people commit to them. The only snag is that the funds starched away by the governor will be greatly diminished by these projects. But we are not elected governors to starch away public funds into private accounts. I therefore challenge the candidates to come up with at least a sketchy plan they have for our people and LET THE DEBATE START. Agbai Ina Obasi ( BA, JD) Author: Financial Independence
Posted on: Wed, 12 Nov 2014 02:28:06 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015