Last week could be described as a week of troubles for the Rochas Okorocha Administration. It was a week of protests and demonstrations for various reasons by various groups of persons who are disenchanted with the State Government over one issue or the other.
At the same time, the protests to a considerable extent exposed the capacity of the Imo State Government to manage crisis as I was not impressed with the comments of some aides of the State Governor on such thorny issues advanced by the protesters.
The protests also reveal that some segments of the Imo populace are unhappy over certain actions of the present Administration and for the proponents of the Rescue mission; it is a signal that all is not well and the rescuer has to do more to meet the expectations of a vast segment of the Imo populace.
While I agree that the Rescue mission- the blueprint For Good Governance- prepared by Governor Okorocha is on course, it is pitiable that we have continued to see ceaseless protests and demonstrations on the streets of Owerri. For one reason or the other, groups have poured on the streets and roads of Owerri to express one grievance or the other. This indicates that there is no mechanism in place by the Government to assuage the litany of complains by these disenchanted groups. While democracy guarantees freedom of expression, and peaceful assembly, it becomes a source of worry when weekly we see group of men, women and youths assembling on the streets protesting over one issue or the other.
While those in Government see such protests as an indication of a tolerant Administration that is not averse to divergent and contrary views, it is worthy to point out that it should compel the present Administration to look inwards and strive to ensure that the depth of murmuring in the State reduce considerably. While I admit that Government alone cannot solve the problems of the citizenry at the same time, the manner it approaches and handles grievances harboured by person or persons will go a long way to reduce the embarrassing protests we see in Owerri nowadays. Before last week’s deluge of protests, we saw similar scenes previously. We had seen the 10,000 job seekers who took to the streets to protest their sack in the early life of the Okorocha Administration, IBC pensioners who had to block Wethedral road to demand for payment of 24 months pension arrears.
The premises of the Imo House of Assembly and Okigwe Road junction, has become regular places where protesters converge to ventilate their grouse. No week passes by without one group or the other expressing discontent over an issue. Invariably, the Okorocha Administration is earning a reputation as a Government in that has witnessed the highest number of protests in Imo State!
First to take to the Streets last week were local contractors who claimed they were short-changed by the Joint State and Local Government Committee headed by Hon Stan Dara. They besieged the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs where they threatened to raze down the Ministry’s office demanding for pay after allegedly completing jobs allotted to them. Not done yet, they were said to have proceeded to the Ahiajoku Centre where Governor Rochas Okorocha was attending a public function.
The Governor, according to reports, was alleged to have ignored them as stern looking security personnel waded them off. Next day, the angry contractors went to the Imo House of Assembly complex where they demanded the whereabouts of Hon Dara. They alleged that their colleagues who were cleared for payment by the Joint Committee and duly paid had godfathers in the present Administration who facilitated such payments. They vowed not to return to site until they are paid their fees.
The State Government in what appears a firebrand approach in resolving the issue was reported to have threatened to jail those contractors who abandoned the road jobs for reasons that are not tenable. To further add fuel to the raging wahala, Hon Dara, during an inspection of road projects in Ahaizu Mbaise LGA was said to have said that the money received by some contractors in the mould of payments is not commensurate with the jobs done. According to him, some of the contractors did not deem it necessary to put in place drainages to protect the roads from the rains.
Much as I do not have details of the terms of agreement of these road contracts, I subscribe to the views of a School Of Thought that says the State Government goofed by entrusting the entire renovation and construction of roads in the State into the hands of some local contractors whom the people of Imo State know nothing about their pedigree, experience and capacity in road construction. This is partly the reason why most of the roads are either poorly constructed and not up to standard. A look at some of the newly constructed roads in Owerri metropolis shows that they will not stand the test of time. Barely 4 to 5 Months after its construction or renovation, some of the roads have either become impassable or gradually becoming death traps. Some streets are easily submerged in flood whenever there is a downpour. Some that were in a manageable condition before they were renovated have deteriorated badly. This therefore puts a question mark on the N1.3 billion naira the present Administration says it has spent on road constructions in the State.
I wrote on this page in my piece titled 2015: Between Political Parties And Personalities that the election or rejection of Governor Okorocha in the 2015 governorship election is hinged on the success or failure to manage ongoing road projects in the State. I said the condition of our roads and security will be huge determinant factors that will considerably determine the re election or rejection of the present Administration in 2015. I reiterate my postulation on the basis that these factors touch directly the lives of the people. Public infrastructure such as roads, security, pipe borne water always attract the hailing of the people if the Government provides them as at when due. It can also become a basis for grumbling and murmuring for the populace, twin factors that can serve as manure for discontent and disapproval by the people for any Government.
Therefore, a situation where in a bid to save cost in preference for cheap low quality roads embarked on by unknown contractors can backfire. It is capable of eroding whatever positive gains the Okorocha Administration wants to achieve in its roads revolution agenda. It can make or mar any Administration. I had strongly canvassed here that it will not be out of place if tested and trusted indigenous contractors in the State with a track record of performance and delivery were engaged to manage some strategic roads in the State.
However, the ongoing protests show that the opposition might have been justified in its claims that the entire road contracts in the State were done below the standard practice of awarding road contracts. It is also a revelation that some of the contractors had no business to construct and renovate our roads in the first place.
This belief was recently justified by Hon Ikechukwu Amuka, Chairman House Committee on Works and Member representing Ideato South State Constituency in the Imo House of Assembly, who on inspection of some road projects in Ahiazu Mbaise, was reportedly furious that some of the contractors failed to conform to road project specifications and standard. The Honourable member’s comments reflect the shoddy job some of the contractors undertook. And the supervising Ministry of Works headed by the Deputy Governor, Sir Jude Agbaso, should be asked questions why some of the roads which gulped a huge percentage of tax payers’ monies should be in poor condition barely few months they were either constructed or renovated.
Aside the furious contractors demand pay for them to go on with the job of repairing our roads; the Physically Challenged Persons went berserk last Thursday when they took to the streets of Owerri to vent their spleen on one of Governor Okorocha’s aide. Reasons for their massive protest, among other things, were the demand for the sack of Kate Okoli, Special Adviser to the Governor on Special Persons. The protests of the disables should be a signal to Governor Okorocha that time is due for him to take a second look at his aides. I had advised our dear governor in the past that the number of political appointees was bloated and there is need to either cut down the size of his cabinet.
This will not only reduce cost but also enable him to have firmer grip of his Administration. This will enable him refocus his Rescue mission which we believe was designed for the overall benefit of the people of Imo State. Allowing some of his aides to drag his Administration to the mud can be counter productive. A situation where some of his aides are ignorant of his efforts to take Imo whatever height is dangerous. We have seen some of them talk recklessly and arrogantly and in the process divulge official classified Government secrets. This is appalling and against the code of conduct of carrying out Government functions. There is need for an overhaul of the Executive Arm of Government if Governor Okorocha truly desires to achieve his aims and objectives as embedded in the Rescue Mission.
