A case for supporting effective leadership in Abia

By UCHE NWOSU
After sixteen years of democracy in Nigeria, Abians should be yearning for virile and quality performance stimulated by purposeful and visionary leadership. Sixteen years, having gone by without the realization of the basic expectations of real democracy dividends, it ought to be the goal of every Abia resident to demand for the provision of the amenities that make life worth living.
It is their right to enjoy amenities like portable pipe borne water, constant electricity, health services, quality and durable road network and so on, which are taken for granted in western world. Regrettably, these are the same essentials of life we beg to have in Nigeria today. Many international conventions and resolution support this.
For instance, many United Nations’ conventions and resolutions declare that it is the right of every citizen to have unrestrained access to clean water, well equipped clinic or hospital, good roads (both at the rural and urban areas), electricity and so on. But regrettably, in this 21st century when the west is exploring the space and surveying the possibilities of making the moon and other atmospheric space second home, Abia residents are yet to have the basic necessities of life.
However, the state appears to see a light in the tunnel as Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has given his firm pledge to provide these amenities within the next four years. This is heartwarming. Giving his antecedents that lend credence to performance, Abia residents can as well assume that they have already had these basics.
In his inaugural speech to the people of the state, the Abia chief executive has pledged to tackle some basics problems before his 100 days in office. The challenges that have affected the progress of the state includes waste management; road construction and rehabilitation; multiple taxation, security and agriculture, among other. These indeed are the challenges that should be tackled headlong if Abia must record appreciable achievement in its development index.
Even though the execution of these projects successfully could be hampered by paucity of funds, Ikpeazu’s managerial ability to harness human and scare resources to a realistic level should come to play in this instance. He is known as somebody who can put the right people in the right position to achieve the right result. Abians would want their governor to work beyond the ordinary and achieve results when least expected.
Dr Ikpeazu’s training and work experience suggest that he has all it takes to achieve good result with minimum support. Of course, to do that will require him serving with men and women who have the requisite training and experience. Theodore Roosevelt, one time American President once said, “The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it”.

 
Abia needs to move forward. It needs to catch up with other states which have done marvelously in terms infrastructure, good road network, health facilities, electricity, and payment of salaries, allowances, pensions and gratuities. Those to achieve that feat are men and women with vision, analytical skill and democratic orientation. Theodore M. Hesburgh once said “the very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision”. Delightfully, Gov Okezie has during the maiden broadcast underscored the importance of infrastructure in economic development.
He has assured of his administration’s plan to provide these facilities and that the government will partner with the private sector to achieve that. This is a golden opportunity the private sector should embrace with open hands. Developed nations of the world are economically strong and independent because of their governments’ partnership with the private sector. It is impossible for either the government or the private sector to realize their set goals if they don’t economically coalesce.
The manufacturing sector in Aba should be re-ignited. This sector has over the years been left comatose as successive governments failed to energize the Aba spirit of ingenuity. They failed to provide the needed infrastructure to which small and medium scale industrials could survive. This indeed made many of them to die a natural death. The Ikpeazu’s government should make Aba a huge manufacturing city.
The manufacturing agenda of the government should focus on making both the manufacturers and the consumers of Aba products to be proud of the phrase “Made in Aba”. Aba products should bear the label even if they are being exported overseas. This is one of the ways of putting the city in the international map of economic development. Nigerians should be proud of Aba products and should indeed feel free to improve on it.
Governor Okezie has started well by building some infrastructure like roads in Aba and Umuahia. It is hoped that at the completion of his 100 days in office, he would have had more infrastructural projects to motivate investors now watching the level of his seriousness to partner with them and to provide the enabling climate for their investments.