Ngor Okpala Local Government Area Imo State is one of the largest LGAs in Nigeria, both in landmass and in population. But the LGA is a sorry sight. The area is devasted in every aspect. In comparison with other LGAs, it is very backward both in infrastructure and capital development.
Historically Ngor Okpala with Umuneke, the Headquarter of the LGA, used to be the parent LGA for Owerri Municipal, Owerri West and North LGAs respectively, otherwise known as the old Owerri county council.
Unfortunately, these three LGAs carved out of Ngor Okpala are today standing in pole position over and above their parent LGA.
If you look towards the Mbaise clan, which is a close Neighbour of Ngor Okpala, the story is shocking as all the LGAs in Mbaise clan; namely Aboh, Ahiazu and Ezinihitte are all far away from Ngor Okpala in development index.
Now, under this circumstance, you begin to ask yourself; where did Ngor Okpala get it wrong? Is the area her own enemy or is it others? How far has the people of Ngor Okpala strived to development the area in the various positions they found themselves?
Today, the only thing Ngor Okpala can be counted on is education. Every three people you see among five Ngor Okpala youths are graduates, well-educated.
But where Ngor Okpala lags behind among other LGAs in Imo state is in the area of infrastructural development.
The worst road today in Nigeria is found in Ngor Okpala LGA. The Ulakwo, Upe Umunam, Umuonye, Amafor, Umunakara, Umuekwuene, Opehi, Obokwe etc road. This road of about thirty kilometers will take you the whole day to travel from Umukwuene to Ulakwo.
A journey that ordinarily should not take more than 40 minutes.
And you know what, this death-trap of a road passes the homes of Col Lambert Iheanacho, (rtd).
Chief Emma Nwaogu (former LGA Chairman), Dr TOE Ekechi (Commissioner for Information), Dr Basil Nnanna Ukaegbu, (Statesman and one time Guber Candidate of GNPP) Chief George Eke (former PDP Guber Aspirant), Chief Sam Amadi (chairman National Electric Regulatory Commission, Abuja), Eze George Eke (of Umuekwuene), Chief Sam Anokam, and other political heavy weights.
Even the only road leading to the council head quarters at Umuneke from Ulakwo untarred till date. It was Governor Achike Udenwa who started what looked like a road construction there and abandoned it.
If you enter the council Headquarter you will weep for Ngor Okpala and her people. The chairman’s office could be described as a Poultry Block. A low-roofed bungalow that can sophocate eight people at a time.
Last Easter when I travelled to Dunokofia LGA in Anambra state to spend a night in Chief Arthur Eze’s residence, I could not but stare with astonishment the edifices gracing the LGA headquarters in Anambra state. Some LGA office blocks could pass for Government House in some states in Nigeria.
I began to wonder what these Anambra LGAs earned from the Abuja Allocation that they were able to erect such gigantic structures as LGA offices.
Apart from Orlu, Nwangele and Owerri Municipal other LGAs in Imo are eye sores. However, Ehime Mbano LGA parades one of the best Halls in Imo LGAs. But Ngor Okpala has no Hall. No upstairs, except one that was started by Chief Emma Nwaogu.
As I write, many villages in Ngor Okpala are not hooked to electricity in the Nigeria of 2014. If not for late Chief Livy Okereafor, many parts of Ngor Okpala would have been living today without electricity.
For me who is complaining, I dug a bore hole for my village, Hon Bar Soronadi Njoku former Commissioner for Public Utilities donated one transformer to my Community with another one I attracted from the Governor Ohakim’s administration. We live along Aba-Owerri Express road. Therefore I have no water, road or electricity problem. But I am from Ngor Okpala! What bothers others affects the rest.
The last time I visited Ngor Okpala LGA Headquarter was during the 2011 elections. Then there was a Council Chairman and other political appointees which at least kept Umuneke busy, even though without such fanfares found in other LGAs. Therefore, how would that place look now that Okorocha has shut all LGAs in Imo state?
There is no night life in Ngor Okpala. Immediately it is 8pm everybody heads to his remote village. But go to Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise, Nkwerre, Isiala Mbano, Okigwe, even Nwangele LGAs. Life bubbles till midnight. Business outfits do sales during this period. Such does not exist in any part of Ngor Okpala.
In the entire Ngor Okpala there is no single decent hotel that any of the rich sons and daughters from the Area can pass a night in case there was a late-night political meeting. Umuneke, the headquarter of the old Owerri County Council, which gave birth to other three LGAs of Owerri zone still remains a glorified village over thirty years now.
You can’t see a good Business Centre you can send mails. No good eatery as you can get in Aboh Mbaise or Ahiazu, Owerri West, Ehime Mbano or Isiala Mbano.
Ngor Okpala has rich human resources. The area has a large quantity of oil in Umuekwune, which is pumped through Rivers state channels now.
There is abundance of palm oil, fruits, cassava, yam, etc yet, the only Government presence in the Area is the Destitute Home located at Obike. Ngor Okpala is larger than The Gambia. From Amala to Okpala, to Nnorie, Umuohiagu, to Umuowa, Obokwe to Ntu etc. a very large Area that can be carved into three LGAs today.
Unfortunately, each administration in the state uses and dumps Ngor Okpala LGA and her people. Although Governor Achike Udenwa showed “facial love” for Ngor Okpala people, but he did not practicalize it.
That’s the reason he could not leave an indelible mark on the area which could be pointed at as the legacy his administration left there as a reference point.
It was Ikedi Ohakim who gave over 10 political appointments to Ngor Okpala people. He constructed one of the best roads of his administration in Ngor Okapla; the Umuneke Elelem, Eche road, which covered over 34 kilometres.
That road still stands firm today.
For Governor Okorocha, Ngor Okpala does not matter to him, both in the areas of appointments and infrastructure. The only road he has constructed in Ngor Okpala is the one leading from Ihitte to the Headquarter in Umuneke, which is to the detriment of a council chairman, and his vice, Councilors and Supervisory Councilors who should have been working now, and reduced the high level of unemployment and hunger in Ngor Okpala, had Okorocha conducted a Local Government election since three years now.
But haven said all these, must Ngor Okpala wait for Government patronage with hands akimbo, or must it do for Government what it ought to do for the people as a basic responsibility of the Government?
It is true that “self help” has become part of the norm in this clime, unlike other places where it is the duty of Government to cater for the masses, while they pay their taxes.
But from all indications, my findings show that many places in Igboland were developed by their people, through communal contributions to their people’s course. For instance, when you are leaving Ngor Okpala and entering the neighbouring Aboh Mbaise, or when you are leaving Aboh Mbaise and entering Ngor Okpala, you will notice the changes.
The changes are that Aboh Mbaise have since left their neighbours, Ngor Okpala. Aboh Mbaise is far above Ngor Okpala in development. Water, good roads, Hospitals, Markets, Electricity, Security, Hotels, Shops, Schools etc.
But that was not done today. It started through organized concession from Mbaise people, who resolved that while they succeed in their various callings, and wherever they are they must “touch base” at all times.
Some prominent Mbaise sons and daughters who are industrialists have built factories located in their homes even though they know they may not make enough profits.
That is why if you go to Mbaise land today you see gigantic Houses, Factories, Hotels, Filling Stations, Stores etc. Every weekend, Mbaise land is brimming with their children who must “Touch Base” from their stations around Nigeria.
Even as the race for 2014 election positions has begun, Mbaise clan alone has over six Aspirants jostling for Imo Governorship seat. Can the entire six lose? Even if they lose, when the compensation comes, it will be in six folds.
But Ngor Okpala has just one Guber Aspirant, eight years after Chief George Eke made attempt in 2007, and after Dr Basil Nnanna Ukaegbu contested under defunct Great Nigeria Peoples Party GNPP in 1979. But in 2014, how many Ngor Okpala leaders are behind their only son vying for the seat of Governor now. I know that politics is all about personal interest.
But one day begins a story. From practical and theorical observations, it is very much clear that the present generation of Ngor Okpala sons and daughters are no more interested in status quo. They seem to have gotten tired of the old order and have decided to take their destinies in their hands. They are ready now to die in liberating their people and the LGA.
This is the reason the 2014 election will be a different kettle of fish in Ngor Okpala. Through exposure garnered in travelling all over Nigeria and other parts of the world, Ngor Okpala new generation of today have realized that politics is a means of redistributing wealth to the people via good roads, Health Care, Water, Education, security, Employment, etc and therefore should not be left for only political business men.
Because of that, they have started showing much interest in politics of the area which they before thought was for those who have “nothing doing”. They thought that making it in their various callings; build houses, train their children etc was enough.
The young Turks of Ngor Okpala have realized that a man who built a house in his remote village from the gains of his flourishing company in Abuja, Lagos, USA, Aba, Sokoto etc needs a good road to access the house. They have now realized that even if it is all well with them they still have their siblings, parents, inlaws and others back at home, who need water, security, electricity, jobs etc.
Therefore, for the first time in the history of Ngor Okpala, LGA the various political parties; PDP, APGA, APC, Labour etc are shocked with the calibre of persons coming out to run for Ngor Okpala House of Assembly seat. Accomplished Lawyers, Bankers, Oil Barons, qualified Medical Doctors, astute Business men, Media Gurus etc.
It is no more business as usual. It is no more when people of mediocre cadre are given a field day. Every sector of Ngor Okpala are now interested of what will happen in the LGA, especially this election period, because they are tired of being ashamed of saying who they are and where they come from.
They want to contribute on how they are led. They want things to get better. They want Ngor Okpala to look like Aboh Mbaise, Nwangele, Owerri North, Ihitte Uboma etc.
Even the seat of Aboh Mbaise/Ngor Okpala Federal House will be tough. Thank God Hon Emeka Ihedioha has decided to vacate the seat after spending twelve years on the saddle. Luckily too, the peoples of Aboh Mbaise have realized that Ngor Okpala people have had enough patient for twelve years for a position meant for both people.
Therefore, it is now a challenge on the leadership of all the political parties in Ngor Okpala. Ngor Okpala Young Men and Women are angry and restless. They have had enough enlightenment which has broadened their perception of Government and how far they have fared in the hands of the old order in Ngor Okpala LGA.
Every Ngor Okpala person is now conscious of his or her political environment and right. And they are prepared now to use using the coming political dispensation which will usher in new leaders, from the Federal, State and Local, to test their civic responsibilities and resolve. And any attempt to abort it through inappropriate and untransparent methods would spell not only doom for that political party, but for the LGA itself, as nothing can be as dangerous as angry educated people fighting for their rights over a perceived Hegemony touted to be holding them down.
