Ebonyi: The Umahi revolution decoded

By OBINNA EZUGWU

“But more importantly, this governor is a doer, he is an achiever. I have seen him at work, I know what he is doing and only this evening. He is one of focused governors we have, and Ebonyi State is one of the focused states we have”, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

In this first of a series of reports in which we shall be looking at the performance of various states in terms of their economies- internally generated revenues and budget; level of infrastructure- roads, electricity, water; healthcare and general standard of living, we take a trip to Ebonyi State, the salt of the nation.

Created in 1996 from Enugu and Abia states, Ebonyi 21, is one of the youngest states in Nigeria. But how has it fared over the years?

State of economy

A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that N2.34billion was the total revenue generated by the state in 2016, making it the lowest revenue generating state in the country, and by implication, the poorest state by Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and with monthly federal allocation, which ranges between N1.5billion and N2.5billion, the state cannot be said to be comfortable financially.

The above figures do not, however, tell the whole story about Ebonyi. Despite its poor revenue base, the state has made considerable progress in a number of areas, especially under the present administration of Engr.Dave Umahi.

GDP

With GDP of $2.27billion (as at 2007), Ebonyi is comparatively a poor state, no doubt, with largely unexplored solid mineral resources and arable land. Its N127.2 billion budget for 2017 fiscal year, tagged “Budget of Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction in Economic Recession,” also makes it one of the lowest in the country in this regard. Yet it was a huge improvement from the 2016 budget of N101.1 billion. But with little, the state appears to be achieving big.

Of the total amount, N87.1billion is for capital projects, which according to the governor, would go into providing roads, water, electricity, agriculture, education, commerce and industries, while N40.171 billion is for recurrent expenditure. Here lies the secret of the success being recorded by the state. In most other states and even Nigeria, more than 70 percent of the budget is spent on recurrent expenditure; In Ebonyi on the other hand, the reverse is the case, with about 70 percent being spent on capital projects. And the difference is showing so clearly.

Alternative Economy

Ebonyi is primarily an agrarian state. It is a leading producer of rice, yam, potatoes, maize, beans, and cassava.  Rice and yams are predominantly cultivated in Edda area of the state.

The current administration is striving to maximize this agricultural potential. It has made reasonable investment in rice production, part of why Ebonyi is now one of the leading producers of rice in the country. Some might say, leading processors of rice;it has more rice processing mills than any state in Nigeria, and the bulk of the rice processed in the mills are brought in from states in the North. Nonetheless, there are efforts by the government to improve local production, which are already yielding results.

“Since the country is in a recession, the governor believes that through agriculture, wealth can be generated and people can be employed,” said Mr Uchenna Oji, the commissioner for agriculture.

“We have what we call ‘one man one hectare programme,’ a programme that says every inhabitant must have a farm. We have more than 250 hectares of arable land for farming, especially rice farming.”

Other than agriculture, the state has several solid mineral resources, including lead, crude oil, and natural gas, but little commercial mining activities are taking place. Ebonyi is called “the Salt of the Nation” for its huge salt deposit at the Okposi and Uburu Salt Lakes.

Infrastructure

Obviously, there is a reason the governor won the 2016 Zik Price for Good Governance, and why Abakailiki is now variously called the city of David. But there are also reasons why critics have not been silent.

From the neighbouring Enugu State, a first time visitor to Ebonyi state will easily notice the relatively good state of the Enugu-Abakailiki Federal Road. The South East and good federal roads do not often belong in the same sentence, but if there is any federal road to speak of in the zone, it is this road. Although it is a federal road, the bulk of the work, especially on the Ebonyi axis, is being done by the state government.

Similar to what Governor Willie Obiano did at the Awka axis of Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Umahi has constructed three fly over bridges along the expressway with a view to easing traffic in some of the busy areas, especially Presco and Spera Indo junctions. The fly overs are part of the trans-Saharan route to Cameroon.

Across the state, there are a number of other road projects. Our crew took a trip from Abakailiki to Ikwo, and to other areas of the state. It was revealing how much good roads Ebonyi can boast of. In Ikwo particularly, contractors were still on site late into the night. Residents say the governor  would at times visit these sites at night or early in the morning and would wield the stick on any contractor found wanting.

Street lights are now major feature of Ebonyi,from Abakailiki to Ikwo, Afikpo and many other places. The administration has also delivered a brand new stadium situated at Ntezi-aba in Abakailiki. For a long time, the state wore the tag of the most backward state in Eastern Nigeria. While it may not have necessarily overtaken other states in the region in many development indices, it has obviously made enough progress to shed such tag.

Standard of living: Employment rate/payment of salaries

With nearly nonexistent industries, high rate of unemployment is inevitable. Ebonyi has high rate of youth unemployment and contributes the bulk of hawkers in Nigeria’s major cities. But the government says it is working to empower youths.

“There is a programme which targeted over 3,000 women and youths. We said that people who are into different businesses but lack funds would be empowered. About one-quarter of these people have been certified and given N250,000 each to start or boost their businesses,” said Chief Donatus Odi Njoku, the commissioner for Economic Empowerment and Job Creation.

“We have gone to Aba, Abuja, Lagos and other cities to talk to our people (hawkers) to come back home and embrace the programme. The governor has said he would ensure human development no matter what it takes.”

The state said it also has programmes for young graduates in which over 270 persons are currently undergoing training so that they would replace expatriate workers in the governor’s infrastructural development programmes. They are presently undergoing one year programme and the government pays them little allowance.

Despite economic challenges in the country, the state government is making sure it pays its workers’ salaries and pensioners’ pensions regularly. The administration is not owing any areas of salaries, it pays before the end of each month.

But some of the civil servants spoken to said their salaries has been slashed.

“If you were receiving N120,000 for instance, it would come down to N80,000. It is very unfair,” a worker who craved anonymity said.

A number of citizens spoken to also said they get to pay more taxes now.

However, when confronted with the question, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Emma Anya denied it. He insisted that the government did not slash salaries of workers, but makes tax deductions at source.

Education/Healthcare

For sometimes, Ebonyi was the weak link of the South East in terms of education, behind other sister states in primary and post primary school enrolment lagging in indicessuch as well as national examinations such as WASSE and JAMB.

In 2010, report by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) showed that Ebonyi had only 18, 167 pupils in basic education schools, the least in the zone. Abia had 53,030; Enugu 63,699, Imo 83,077 and Anambra 111, 163. But with conscious effort by the subsequent state governments, the state has made considerable progress in education. In recent times, it has made top ten states in West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSE), JAMB and other national exams along with sister South East states. The state took 10th position in 2015 WASSE results.

Presently, it is home to four higher institutions of learning: Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki (EBSU); Federal University Ndufu Alike Ikwo (FUNAI); Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic, Unwana; College of Health Sciences, Ezzamgbo and Federal College of Agriculture, Ishiagu.

With respect to healthcare, Ebonyi has had fair share of epidemics. In 2016, Lassa fever and cholera caused the death of not less than 90 people in the state.

Between February and June 2015, cholera outbreak which hit 38 communities across 11 local government areas killed about 15 persons.

The governor had upon resumption of office, declared a state of emergency in the health sector. The epidemics were eventually contained.

A virology centre has been built in the state, the only one in the southeastern part of the country, with state-of-the-art equipment. Under the present government, HIV/AIDS prevalence in the state has dropped from 4.3 to 0.9 percent, making it one of the lowest in the country.

The state equally has a clinic for the management of drug-resistant tuberculosis. Before now, patients with such disease were sent to Owerri in Imo state and treated in batches.

In the past two years, the government says it has upgraded up to 171 primary health centres previously left comatose, and there will soon be a centre in every ward as is stipulated in the World Health Organisation standard.

Under Umahi, the state has maintained the first position in the country in the management of malaria. It has presently, 13 general hospitals and has built school of nursing.

“The state already has a school of nursing which will soon commence academic activities. There is also a total overhaul of the state school of health technology. The progress is enormous,” said Dr Umezurike Daniel, the commissioner for Health.

Security

Ebonyi is relatively secure; the communal clashes that once characterized the state have been curtailed.

“It is almost a crime to be idle here in Ebonyi. People must know what you do. We had pockets of criminalities before Governor Umahi came to power. But this changed with his ascension to office. Governor Umahi believes that with God, anything can be achieved. And this is what he has inculcated in the electorate.” Dr Ugbala Kenneth Igwe, the governor’s senior special assistant on security, once observed.