By Rose MOSES
Among the popular Nigerian jokes these days is, “What politicians cannot destroy does not exist.” Those bandying this joke are wont to ask you how else to explain that a country so naturally endowed like Nigeria can be led to such a horrible state it now finds itself.
The level of misgovernance by Nigerian leaders or dealers, whichever you like, is legendary and a painful part is they are swiftly getting away with it.
Alas! These mis-governors even boldly look the people right in the eyes and rub their impunity right on the peoples’ faces. Elsewhere, such leaders, as soon as an iota of fraudulent leadership is exposed are forced to exit the stage. Hell, no, not in Nigeria!
Can anyone tell where else in the world a governor would be asked to name some of his accomplishments in office and he would begin to make the kind of statements that we get to hear from our politicians, if not in Africa, nay Nigeria?
A video clip trending online has Seun Okinbaloye of Channels Television in a chat with Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State. The journalist asks about his excellency’s achievements in the last six years in government and in power. The governor’s response is shocking.
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On the situation in Aba, a major commercial heartbeat of southeast Nigeria that incidentally has become an eyesore (once described as the dirtiest city to live in), the governor responds: “Who says Aba is not working? Em, today in Aba, you have Dominos, You have the Chicken Republic, you have eh eh eh, market place, you have everything in Aba…. You even have a cinema in Aba.” Yee, Jesu!
That’s all? Chai! A friend of mine from Abia even informed me that the governor also talked of ‘planting’ so many streetlights, among many imaginary infrastructures in the state and that they are all waiting for when the streetlights he planted would be ‘harvested.’
To think that such will be the reaction of a governor with a PhD to a question like the one put across to him at this time in our history when infrastructural decay in this same Aba and other parts of the country is way out of this world, is, to say the least, sickening. But then, such a tragic answer to serious questions dates back in time. After all, another governor also in the eastern part of the country once listed the establishment of Mr Biggs’ in his state as an achievement.
Such a tragic response in high places did not even start with the late Kano politician and second-republic governor, Alhaji Aliyu Sabo Barkin Zuwo, whose famous quote was that Kano had abundant mineral resources such as Coke, Fanta, and Mirinda.”
Who remembers Gov. Barkin Zuwo? The only difference from Dr Ikpeazu is
that the former allegedly had no formal education although he had to have attended Mallam Aminu Kano Political School, Sudawa, Kano. In the second republic, also, Zuwo was elected senator (1979) and sponsored more bills than any senator of his time. In 1983, he “defeated” his predecessor, Governor Abubakar Rimi, and went on to remove Rimi’s Emirs.
However, contrary to one of Gov Ikpaezu’s “achievements,” Barkin Zuwo saw in cinemas a Fatwa and so converted them to clinics. A strong follower of the late Aminu Kano, he was arrested on December 31, 1983, by the then ruling Maj-Gen Muhammadu Buhari regime, which came to power via a military takeover and was sentenced to 300 years for corruption in 1985. He died four years later.
So, back to Gov Ikpeazu’s answer Aba. But before we go further, let me make it clear that I cannot verify if the trending video was doctored or not. I am only interested in the governor’s response, which when made anywhere and in any context whatsoever is tantamount to a mockery of the true situation in Aba today.
Records show that infrastructural challenges in Aba have had a long history, although efforts by many administrations, past and present, to address the situation have never ceased to be played on radio, television, billboards, and just anywhere except the right place, on the ground. Visitors to the city return to lament a town that has seen good days. Like most towns in Nigeria, Aba is one industrial cluster in a terrible state of decay.
Besides the introduction of illegal structures that have distorted the original master plan, Aba just like most commercial cities in Nigeria lacks developmental plans. And the people? They are hardly environment-friendly. Actually, to most Abia indigenes residing outside the state, Aba is a good example of how not to maintain a golden goose.
Aba of 2021 is a shadow of itself. [Margaret Ekpo and the Aba women’s riot of 1929 in my mind.] Getting into the city is such a herculean task. The roads are better described as death traps. Your first challenge when you think of going to Aba is the road, which gets as bad as you can ever imagine during the rains. No matter the route you choose to get to Aba, there is hardly any respite; the roads, most of the federal ones, are bad.
If you are approaching Aba from Umuahia, you have to go through the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, a fFederal road, and when coming from the Akwa Ibom axis, it will be through Ikot Ekpene Road, and none guarantees you a smooth ride. The story is the same if you are coming from the Port Harcourt axis. And if you manage your way into the city, the site that confronts you is so horrible.
I have been hearing this story since I was little and the same song is still being played to date. Importers based in the area are daily lamenting the many billions they keep losing on that road while transporting goods containers from Onne Port or anywhere else to Aba. This no doubt reflects on the prices of goods and services at the end of the day.
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From the popular Ariaria International Market, the story is not pleasant. You just don’t want to be there during the rains except you want to swim in the stench that is the flooded market. Over the years, the market has been in a deplorable state, especially the roads and drains. The poor environmental condition of the market seems to have forced some customers to look elsewhere.
In addition, the touts used by politicians, who dump them after elections, are daily harassing the traders by collecting all manner of levies and taxes. And you need not crack your head to know that such monies collected end up in private pockets. Not much of it goes into putting the necessary amenities in place for the people.
Like the traders, industrial outfits struggle to break even, after high duties and multiple taxations. The state of infrastructure, especially road and electricity, remains a major concern for manufacturers who are also forced to deal with made-in-China goods that come into Nigeria cheaper and not necessarily better finished.
It would appear that governance in Nigeria has turned into a huge joke, which is why we are where we are today. With the very poor state of infrastructure and condition of living not just in Aba and Abia State in particular but Nigeria in general, it would appear we are yet to get leaders who clearly understand that creating conditions where people can reach their goals while adding value to the economy is an important recipe for progress.
The question Ikpeazu needs to answer before concluding that Aba or Abia State for that matter is working is, “How much as a governor has he invested in the health, education, and opportunities, that is, the human capital of the people in Aba.” Positive answers to this question will lay the foundation for sustained prosperity. Anything to the contrary interrogates his verdict that Aba is working.
In an environment where hunger and poverty have taken prominent seats, watching that video clip gives a clear impression that our leaders are highly insensitive to the plight of the governed. To learn that Governor Ikpeazu is even an ‘Aba boy’ or ‘Aba brought up’, Ngwa man, so to speak, makes the situation even more worrisome because if he thinks in its present state that Aba is working, who then will develop Aba? Certainly not the Dominos, Chicken Republic, and the likes!
Anyone from the Southeastern part of Nigeria will easily tell you how economically viable the city of Aba is–a fact that dates back in history. Popularly called Enyimba City, even before the establishment of a British military post in 1901, Aba was a traditional market town for Ndigbo.
Today, the city is a shadow of itself. Though different administrations in Abia State have always mouthed plans for the place, there has been no concerted effort to rebuild that economic hub of the former Eastern Region.
