For the past four or more months, Imo State has been in front burner of political discourse across the length and breadth of Nigeria. But it has been for the wrong reasons, as aptly captured by the editors of a national daily who were bewildered at the turn of events in a state once reputed as one of the most peaceful in the entire federation.
If it were just bad news, perhaps the good people of Imo State, together with keen observers outside the state, would have been less agitated than they are currently. The big worry is that the state is at a boiling point and may implode any moment from now.
Only a couple of weeks ago, a group of elders and professionals residing in the state raised the alarm over a looming anarchy in the state. In an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, the group named Concerned Imo Citizens Group (CICG), accused Governor RochasOkorocha of taking precipitate actions that are capable of plunging Imo into a conflagration of a dimension that is yet to be seen in the annals of the peace-loving people of the state.
In the letter titled”IMO STATE TILTING TOWARD FASCISM AND ANARCHY UNDER GOVERNOR ROCHAS OKOROCHA,”the group accused the governor of imposing terror and tyranny on the people and urged President Buhari to intervene urgently to avoid a total breakdown of law and order in the state.
Said the group: “We are aware that the hands of the federal government are full in trying to deal with various security flash points in the country. To add mass insurrection in Imo State to it when it could be avoided by the timely political intervention of the President would be ignoring the imperatives of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.Such a development, if it is allowed to occur in Imo State, would surely help to compound the crises of instability in the already beleaguered federal republic of Nigeria.”
The group went ahead to list over twenty sub-headings under which it itemized no less than 100″evidence of the explosive state of fascism and looming anarchy in Imo state”. Principal among these are the destruction of the constitutional order of Imo State; rendering moribund the legal and administrative structures and organs of the state; rendering the state civil service comatose; imposition of hardship on the people; wasteful style of governance; breach of financial regulations etc.
Keen watchers of the Imo political terrain, however, point out that the observations of the CICG are not entirely new. They point out that the people of the state have had to contend with the bizarre style of administration of Governor Okorocha right from the beginning of the administration in 2011.
Initially, they were taken aback over the way and manner the governor, who was supposedly elected on a popular acclaim,turned out to don an anti-people garb not long after he assumed office.But they preferred to remain calm and optimistic.
For a people that are known to be sophisticated, enlightened and understanding, the generality of the Imo populace decided to endure Okorocha’s high handedness, with the hope that he will turn a new leaf; or that in the alternative, a possible change of government in 2015 would return things to the level of their collective expectation.
But none of that happened. Not only did Okorocha refuse to change but he used the coercive apparatus of the state and other overtures to narrowly escape defeat at the 2015 governorship election.
But if the people thought that his victory at the keenly contested election that went into a second ballot would make Okorocha soften, they were mistaken. For example, shortly after the election,the first thing hetold a bewildered people was that the state owed him over N6 billion in salaries and allowances he claimed he did not collect for four years.
He followed this up by introducing a policy of paying civil servants only 70 percent of their salaries, evenwith arears of salaries of upwards of fourteen months. Till date, pensioners are owed over 24 months of unpaid arrears while primary and secondary school teachers are owed over 18 months of salaries despite the N29.4 billion bailout fund made available to the state. As a matter of fact, Imo is among the states thatare being investigated by the anti-graft agencies for alleged misuse of the bailout funds.
In the letter toBuhari referred to above, the eminent group of Imo citizens noted that “the situation in Imo state under Governor Okorochais like a time bomb waiting to explode”. The group is not alone. Earlier, another group by the name COALITIONOF IMO PATROITS, had in a public statement on October 28, 2016 noted that “It is inconceivable that a man elected to protect and enhance the welfare of the people has turned to be a persecutor and oppressor of the same people”. In the statement titled, WHEN WILL OKOROCHA STOP FOOLING NDI IMO?, the group added that “besides waging war against Ndi Imo, Okorocha’s actions and inactions have completely destroyed Imo…”
If all of the above constituted the remote causes of the current boiling-point tension in Imo State, the evident immediate cause is the recent and indeed on-going massive demolition of both private and public buildings in the state capital,Owerri, as part of a supposed urban renewal programme which began late July, 2016.
In an unprecedented and bizarre manner,the administration of Governor Okorocha shocked residents of the state capital when bulldozers were sent, unannounced, to demolish residential buildings, offices and shops. At last count, the exercise has led to the closure of three three-star hotels in the state capital, resulting in the retrenchment of hundreds of workers. The exercise also saw to the uprooting of electric cables and water pipes that cost the state several years and over $1.5 billion to install.
Apart from the fact that no compensation was discussed with the affected property owners, the people have had to grapple with the direct consequences of remaining without electricity and water supplies even as scanty as they were hitherto.
The roads where the bulldozers visited have been rendered impassable with no provision for alternative routes, thus making life extremely difficult for motorists and commuters. Big trucks and articulated vehicles, including petrol-laden tankers, have to wade through narrow, pothole-infested routes to pass through the state capital,enroute to their destinations within and outside the state.
Urban renewal experts insist that the programme is bereft of the needed consultations and professional touch. They point out that the purportedurban renewal programme is effectively destroying the existing master plan for the Owerricapital city without a replacement.
“The Owerricapital city has an original master plan which is being destroyed without an alternative master plan”, said Mr. ChimaEze, an architect based in Owerri.Eze pointed out further that given the current economic situation in the state, the road expansion project of the Okorocha administration “is uncalled for”.