Umahi: Beyond the media gaffe

By OBINNA EZUGWU

A few days ago, Ebonyi State governor, Dave Umahi stirred up a controversy when he barred two journalists: Chijioke Agwu and Peter Okutu of The Sun and Vanguard respectively, from the Abakaliki government house, for life.

It was a gaffe that has earned him more than a few critics and mostly affected his otherwise spartan image. But given the kind of governor Umahi has been in the past five years, it would be uncharitable to take the action beyond what it was, a gaffe.

Granted that the governor tends to be dictatorial in his approach to governance, and indeed, in his government, he puts everyone on their toes, not tolerating slip ups no matter how minimal, but it’s largely an approach to governance and when weighed against the achieved results, it is not in doubt that it is delivering huge results.

In December last year, I was in Abakaliki, capital of the state as part of my tour of Eastern Nigeria. Ebonyi was to be my last stop, after trips to Owerri, Enugu and Onitsha. After the trip, I couldn’t help but do a feature on the governor’s miraculous accomplishments in the state, and why his counterparts in Anambra, Enugu, Abia and Imo should take a page out of his book.

One of the people I managed to get an interview with in the course of the trip was the state’s Commissioner for Information, Mr. Uchenna Orji who was eloquent in listing the accomplishments of his principal. And unlike officials of a number of other state governments who, even in their best efforts to sell their principals, have little or nothing to say, Mr. Orji had plenty to say and he said them as much as he could. I had spent two days in Abakaliki before meeting him, within that period I went round the city.

Ebonyi, to my amazement, and Abakaliki in particular has become a wonder. The last time I was in the state, prior to that time, was in early 2015, just before the end of Elder Martin Elechi’s administration. At that period, the political atmosphere was charged. Elechi who didn’t want Umahi to succeed him, was backing Labour Party and its candidate, Edward Nkwegu, while Umahi, apparently with the backing of Abuja, particularly then Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, was undeterred.

I had gone to Ikwo a town in the state to witness the commissioning of a water project by Elechi and was nearly lynched on my way back by restive youths loyal to Umahi who mistook me for one of Elechi’s loyalist. It was indeed a hot zone. At the time, I also interviewed then Commissioner for Information, Dr. Ifeanyi Ike, who unlike Orji, had not much to speak of in terms of infrastructure. And in any case, it was election period, so we dwelt more on politics.

If Orji were to talk about all of Umahi’s projects, the interview would have lasted a whole day, for, indeed, Umahi has performed miracles in his state. Within the first four years of his administration, he transformed the state into a kind of paradise.

For a start, the Enugu-Abakaliki Expressway is easily the best federal road in the entire region, and it’s not courtesy of the federal government, but the Umahi administration.

Abakaliki, the state capital has become a delight with smooth roads, beautiful roundabouts, modern storey buildings and fine streets. The Udensi Roundabout with its fountain waterfall and spotless labyrinth of roads is gorgeous. The government house roundabout is no less beautiful. It also features a fountain and well constructed road network. So does Abacha Roundabout, among others.

Yet, the city has three standard flyover bridges, one at Presco, another at Spera Indo and a third at the International Market, built as part of the trans-Saharan route to Cameroon. At night, they are lighted up to give the entire environment ethereal beauty.

Elsewhere in the state, there are eight flyovers at Abaomege in Onicha local government, Nkalagu Junction, Uburu Junction, Ohaozara, among other locations which are still being constructed.

The administration has also completed the huge international market, the Margret Umahi International Market, which was started by his predecessor, Elechi. Although the market is now surrounded in some sort of controversy, with traders allegedly being asked to cough out huge sums of money for shops.

Apart from the international market, there is also the impressive centenary city, a new governor’s lodge and an ecumenical centre; a massive structure with combined sitting capacity of 12,000,. It is perhaps the highest ever built by any government in Nigeria, if not on the African continent.

Regardless of these accomplishments, however, Umahi, for many people, now cuts an image of a dictator. But there is no way to look at it and not understand Umahi as a man who loves his people, and has since dedicated his energy to ensuring that Ebonyi is the best it can be. And going round the state, it is obvious that he has succeeded in doing that. Once it was said that Ebonyi was the least developed state in Eastern Nigeria. But four years have made all the difference. Four years under Umahi, the state has become the leading light of the region.

Certainly, every leader has his strengths and weaknesses. The major weakness of Umahi seems to be his inability to take criticisms. For someone who has done so much within a short period, it is possible he can’t possibly understand why anyone would criticize him. But the world works differently, no one is perfect. And no matter how good you are, there must still be one or two places you are getting things wrong and it is it the job of your critics to point that out.

Trying to shut critics down therefore, is to display political immaturity. The governor ought to learn one or two things from the embarrassment the move against the journalist caused him and his government. It is a democracy, not dictatorship. And people have right to criticize government policies and programmes, even if they are implemented with the best intentions. And obviously, trying to gag the press is a mistake no politician who wants his reputation intact should make. The governor’s penchant for issuing orders and making pronouncements like a king has not helped matters too.

Notwithstanding, Umahi’s place in history, as one who transformed Ebonyi is not in question. Still, he wouldn’t want to water down his accomplishments by turning himself into a dictator of sorts. If he can put his emotions in check, as they say, the sky may just be his limit.