OPEN LETTER TO HIS EXCELLENCY, THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF ABIA STATE

By  Nnabugwu Chizoba (Development Practitioner)                                                                 

Dear Governor, Abia state.

On the 27th August, 1991, Abia state was created as a response to the demand of the leaders then, who reasoned that it would be a very viable platform to among other objectives, pursue the collective agenda of meeting the real developmental needs of the people of the state.

With you as the Governor and your administration at the center of affairs today, you stand face to face with Abia destiny: Development of Abia state, dignity of Umu-Abia, emancipation of the oppressed among the Umu-Abia, forward marching of Umu-Abia, and the realization of the full potential of Umu-Abia, in a way and manner that the spirit of Onye-ayala-nwanneya is at the centre. Your Excellency this is a challenge before you.

Issues of employment generation, security of lives and property, Rural Development, Disease Control, Market development, functional/competency education, tourism and infrastructural development, improved health care delivery etc, are some of the factors I recommend that you would address before your tenure runs out. While I admit that it does not make much sense to put the whole burden of Abia development on your shoulder, let me remind you that you have a huge role to play towards moving the state to an enviable height.

Let me attempt to arouse your interest in a way, by drawing your attention to the lofty dreams of the founding Fathers of Abia state that Abia shall emerge as self-governing, self-defining, self-sustaining, inventive and exemplary state. There is no doubt that the realization of the lofty dreams of the founders of Abia, (living or dead), is upper most in the minds of Umu-Abia; before, during and after the election that brought you into office.

That ambition, though threatened, is still on course. The expectation is that your regime in Abia state would make very eloquent statement that would raise hope and aspirations of the people. This will entail making very meaningful contributions, in infrastructure and human capital, to guarantee growth and sustainable development of Umu-Abia.

Having said that it is quite imperative to remind Your Excellency that the expectations of Umu-Abia from your administration are huge, very tasking and challenging. It is also essential to say that the expectations are things that are do-able, achievable and within the available resources of your government; as nobody would naturally expect you to do what is not within the reach of available resources. All it demands from you is the political will to drive the process. The only thing I must add here is: The earlier, the better!

Without further delay, let me join the whole of Umu-Abia at home and in the diaspora, to celebrate you, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, as the Governor of Abia state, who was elected during the May 2015 Governorship election in Nigeria, to pilot the affairs of Abia state, and has been doing that in the past two years and above.

Umu-Abia, for good reasons and on daily basis, pray, hope, work and interestingly seek avenues for new direction, fresh perspective, and a genuinely renewed approach and style, in the administration of the state that has Umuahia as its capital, and God’s Own state as the slogan, with Aba, the Enyimba city, as the the commercial nerve center.

From my knowledge of governance and administration generally, in addition to my background as a development activist, I do not only imagine that it has not been easy, but also contend that it can never be easy, while holding tenaciously to the fact that it was never expected to be easy. At the same time, I cannot shy away from saying that it promises to be better; provided your Excellency embraces the opportunity provided by that election and subsequently your emergence as the governor of Abia state, considered in my opinion as a call of duty by Umu-Abia, for you to lead them and to develop the state during your tenure of office.

To do just that, I advise that you view your election as the governor of Abia state as a tool like no other; and in this regard deploy all in your kitty as instrument for the socio-economic and political transformation of Abia state. Anything short of this is considered an aberration and therefore, not good enough. To say the least, it will be inadequate for the hope Umu-Abia reposed on you in the election that brought you in, as the Chief Executive of the state.

In line with the above, I wish to draw your attention, Your Excellency, to the need for you to define your role appropriately and to see yourself as the one that must harness Abia resources, presently, for the purpose of Abia development, for the common good of Umu-Abia and through this launch Abia state into the orbit.

Looking back, it is easy to see clearly where you started as the Governor of “Abia” the God’s own state. It is also not so difficult to note the obstacles, the successes and the draw backs, in the midst of those fluctuations.

It is on record that previous administrations, except for some exceptions did not recognise the dream for obvious national exigencies, but those who did, contributed amazingly towards the development of Abia state and Umu-Abia in general. Here lies the need for a genuine re-appraisal and careful evaluation of your programmes and policies, decisions, utterances, actions and inactions.

Let me conclude with this: For about 26 years that Abia was created, the fundamental and structural defects in the collective attitudes of the people politically, socially, and economically in matters of the state still persist. The consequences include:  

• Basic problems of the inability to mobilise our human and natural resources for socio-economic progress and political stability.
• The inability to translate promises into programmes, and projects and slogans into concrete developmental achievements.
• The inability to unit in action against poverty, ignorance, preventive diseases and others