As Imo State marks four decades of existence, residents celebrate the revival of moribund projects, writes OKODILI NDIDI
There is a cheery atmosphere in the Eastern Heartland, as Imo State is also called, but it much more than the state’s 40th anniversary. New life is being breathed into its once-famous but moribund firms. Governor Rochas Okorocha and his team are happy about that, and so are the rest of the residents.
Created in 1976 alongside 18 others, the state was carved out of the defunct East Central State, and later split in two by former Head of State Gen Ibrahim Babangida.
Of all the state’s past governors, the late Dr Sam Mbakwe stood out, guiding Imo to a major breakthrough in social and economic development between 1979 and 1983. It was during this period that the famous Concorde Hotel, Resin Paints, Avutu Poultry, Imo Clay Industry, Imo Power Plant, among other laudable projects, which marked the growth of the young state.
Painfully, successive administrations especially military ones either sold these projects off or allowed them to die and rot away.
Now, under Okorocha’s watch, the state has started the journey of recovery. Slowly but steadily Imo has recovered the companies that were either sold or abandoned. Education has been made free to fill for the years the state has lost. Decayed infrastructures have been revived and new ones springing up. The twin evil of kidnapping and armed robbery has become a thing of the past. Investors are coming in their droves and economic activities are at their all-time high.
According to some of the residents, the achievements recorded by the Okorocha administration have revived the people’s confidence in the government.
Chief Anayo Temple, an elder statesman from Mbaitoli Council Area of the state noted, “We had almost lost whatever success we achieved under the PDP-led administration but today we are back on track and there is every reason to thank God. Our state is 40 today and compared with other states created at this same time, we have not done badly and it calls for celebration”.
Some of the achievements recorded by the Okorocha’s administration that has given him an enviable place in the success story of the last forty years include the free Education Programme from primary school to University, which is unprecedented in the history of the state, the construction of rural roads and 27 General Hospitals in the 27 Council Areas of the State.
The resuscitation of ailing industries such as the Imo Concorde Hotel, Concorde Annex, Heroes Square, Ikemba Ojukwu Convention Centre, Ochiedike Diagnosis Centre, Bongo Square, Freedom Square, Imo International Convention Centre (IICC) Ahiajoku Convention Centre, Imo College of Advanced Professional Studies (ICAPS) as well as Children’s Recreation parks.
Others include the regular payment of salaries, allowance, gratuities and pensions to both serving and retired civil servants in the state.
It is therefore based on this new lease of life and sense of direction that the people gathered to mark the 40th Anniversary of the state with a prayer session, which was attended by a large number of clergymen from within and outside the state, at the Imo International Convention Centre, to thank God for his blessings in the last forty years and to pray for the peace and prosperity of the state.
At the well attended prayer session, the Christian faithful, politicians, the state Governor, other leaders and stakeholders in the state prayed for the sustenance of the success recorded in the last forty years and sued for peaceful coexistence among the people of the state.
The Deputy Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Imo State chapter, Bishop Chuka Ekemam, urged political and religious leaders to be more responsive and responsible to the masses.
Governor Okorocha said, “There is a popular saying that a fool at 40 is a fool forever, but to the glory of God, Imo state is not foolish at 40 but wise at 40 because of the giant strides of the Rescue Mission Government. Imo security is at its best four years and eight months down the line. Imo was known as a kidnapping haven but now, Imo is considered as one of the safest states in the country, courtesy of the Rescue Mission Government.
“All hands must be on deck to sustain the gains made in education, security, infrastructure and other facets of the administration too numerous to mention. The appointees should improve on the gains so far recorded by the Rescue Mission Government.”
