IKPEAZU AS A BEACON OF HOPE

Sam Hart

"Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be". - Barack Obama

On May 29, 2018, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu would have spent 3 years as Governor of Abia State. 3 years is enough time to conduct an honest assessment of his performance as Governor of Abia State.

While a lot of ink has been devoted to highlighting the extent of the unprecedented infrastructural development that has taken place in Abia State within the last 3 years, an aspect of the reality of Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu's tenure as Governor in Abia State, often overlooked but equally powerful, is the new lease of hope that he has introduced and sustained in Abia state.

You see, hope is a powerful elixir and motivator. It is hope that makes people wake up in the morning spritely and full of optimism for what the day holds. That optimism in turn secrets hormones that increase productivity and positive thought which makes for a more fulfilled life.

More and more Abians are waking up every morning looking forward to a productive day and knowing full well that today will be better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today.

The reasons for this new lease of hope are legion. We will attempt to highlight a few.

Starting from our young ones, primary school pupils in Abia State cannot wait for daybreak to rush off to school because they are guaranteed a full, nutritious meal in school everyday. The Okezie Ikpeazu administration pioneered this concept nationwide before the Federal Government commenced theirs. Even at that, the Federal version feeds pupils from Primary 1 to Primary 3 only while Abia State Government feeds from Primary 1 to 6!

Today, primary school enrolment has more than trippled in Abia State. It has moved from the 105,000 new pupils per annum in Abia State that was the average in 2015 to an amazing 356,000 new pupils per annum as of September 2017. The kids know that they have a free meal in school. They look forward to going to school. They have hope of a full stomach and through that means, knowledge is imparted into them. Knowledge that will help them become effective leaders tomorrow. In addition, the administration has paid the requisite counterpart funds which has led to the release of trapped Universal Basic Education Grants to Abia State. These funds have been deployed to a massive renovation of schools all over the state.

Little wonder then that for 3 years running, from 2015 till date, Abia State has consistently emerged first in results of the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations.

Bravo Governor Ikpeazu for a win-win strategy!

Another area that has precipitated hope in Abia State is the Health sector. The administration is prolonging lives by a number of novel concepts which has led to longer lives and reduced mortality across a range of critical indices.

The administration started off by renovating existing ones and building new Secondary Health Hospitals in Abia State to bridge a critical gap in healthcare provision in the State. Hitherto, the healthcare traffic in Abia State was between Primary Health Centres straight to Tertiary Hospitals with little or no intermediate intervention possibilities available.

Today, that narrative has changed. The Aba General Hospital, after years of inactivity, has been revived and reopened. A brand new General Hospital has equally been built at Obingwa while work is at an advanced stage at the General Hospitals at Okeikpe, Ikwuano and Arochukwu. Residents living within the catchment area of these hospitals now have hope that should ailments afflict them, critical help is nearby and danger can be averted. It gives them more confidence to look forward to tomorrow and give their best to today.

Still on Health, the administration has scored highly on critical indices on a number of programmes it has attracted to Abia State not limited to the Basic Healthcare Provision Initiative, the Saving One Million Lives Project and Maternal and Infant Mortality Intervention Initiatives.

Other interventions of the Ikpeazu administration in the Health sector are numerous but due to space constraints, 3 will be highlighted. 1. The Emergency Medical Services which saw to the acquisition of state of the art ambulances and daily deployment to key points across the State. 2. The introduction of geriatric care in Abia State leading to a team of health specialists visiting the aged in their homes across the state and offering diagnosis and care for ailments and 3. Abia State Government has pioneered Tele-Health Initiative in Nigeria which entails Abians having a pre-paid call card with which they dial a Doctor whenever they have health challenges to be advised on initial life-saving interventions before directing them to the closest Hospital for physical care.

Infant and Maternal Mortality is reducing in Abia State, Life Expectancy is consequentially increasing and Abians are now hopeful of living healthier, longer lives in the full knowledge that their health is a priority of Government.

The Okezie Ikpeazu administration has given new hope to Abians by nurturing a beneficial relationship between the Abia State Government and the Federal Government. This relationship has opened countless doors of opportunities for Abians. The 1st Federal Government MSME Clinic was held at Aba in 2017 and that enabled Federal Agencies to pay special attention to Abia state and provide critical support in enterprise development. Today, the Bank of Industry, the Nigerian Export Import Bank and similar development finance institutions are supporting a number of businesses and initiatives in Abia State.

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN was recently in Abia State to inspect the ongoing 5MW Power Project at the Ariaria International Market in Aba. This project is aimed at ensuring 24hr power supply at the largest MSME hub in West Africa. About 1,000 shops are already benefiting from 24hr power in the last 6 months on a pilot basis and the other shops and businesses in the sprawling market will join once the project is completed.

Imagine the renewed hope with which these traders, merchants and fabricators will be waking up each day in the knowledge that they are guaranteed electric power to innovate, invent and break new boundaries? That is what governance should be about.

Closely related to the above is the Made-In-Aba Campaign championed by Governor Ikpeazu. This Campaign, which has received international acclaim, has midwifed renewed hope for businesses in Abia State and Nigeria. No longer do Aba goods carry the tag of inferiors and derision. Today, Governor Ikpeazu has placed the Aba producer on the world map. Proudly wearing only items of clothing produced in Aba since he emerged Governor, he has exposed them to national and international markets and the volume of trade in Aba has trippled between 2015 and 2018. There is yet hope that by the time the road works around major markets in Aba are completed, the trade volume will increase even further. Hope!

This allows us segue perfectly into the massive and unprecedented infrastructural development ongoing around Abia State.

Residents and owners of businesses on and around Faulks Road are beside themselves with joy. The fabricators around Port Harcourt Road, Aba cannot contain their excitement at the fact that after over a decade of impassability, their road is almost completed. Ditto MCC Road, Old Express, Kamalu, Umuola, Umuocham, Umule, Nkporo, Eluama, Umuojima, Owerrinta, Ekwereazu, Umuobiakwa, Umuda Isingwu, Abiriba, Ohafia, Eziukwu, Nkpa, Ifeobara/Ukwu Mango, Obikabia, Umunkpeyi, Ubakala, Immaculate, Echefu, Tonimas and a host of other roads. Residents now have a new lease of life and radiate hope that if today is like this, then surely, tomorrow will be better. Hope!

Motorists plying the Enugu Port Harcourt Expressway cannot wait for the Osisioma Flyover to be completed. Note that another Flyover is being planned for the waterside at Ogborhill, Aba. Residents of Umuahia have seen the quality of work done at the Aba road in Umuahia. The project has been extended to the Expressway entrance into Umuahia at Ubakala. It will yet be extended into Umuahia proper to link up with the dual carriage way planned from the beginning of Ikot Ekpene Road to Oboro! Note also that work will soon commence on the dualisation of Ururuka Road from Isi Court at Old Umuahia to Nsulu in Isialangwa South LGA. The capital city of Umuahia is about to witness a deliberate expansion campaign from all its major entrances to give it a befitting look and improving businesses around the area.

Hope is a compelling belief in the beauty of tomorrow. The works Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has put on ground within the last 3 years inspires the hope that in his 2nd term, he will do much more than he has done currently in spite of the distractions that he faced with litigation and paucity of funds.

Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is a beacon of hope and Abians are waking up with extra excitement because he is their Governor. Exciting times are indeed ahead. Bravo!


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