The Parliament Diary

As the clock ticks quickly to the fifth year anniversary of the berth of Governor Uzodimma’s 5th year of Shared Prosperity, Imolites of different cadres have taken out time to dispassionately review the performance of the governor since he assumed office on 15th January, 2020.

It should be recalled that His Excellency Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, CON, assumed office at the most difficult time in Imo’s history as he had to contend with various political, economic and social upheavals, some of which were man-made, while others, like the COVID-19 pandemic which literally welcomed him to office was organic and unavoidable. His ability to navigate through these challenges has earned him accolades from a cross-section of bipartisan commentators and analysts.

Let us take a quick look at some of the achievements of the governor in the last five years, across different sectors;

In the area of workers’ welfare, it is on record that Governor Uzodimma is the only Imo State governor since the Fourth Republic who has never owed workers, salaries even for a single month. Pensions are also promptly paid to our retired elder statesmen and women, while he has recently started the process of paying off the gratuities of our retirees after about ten years of these elders crying and begging to be paid their entitlements. He has also approved the double promotion of workers across the Imo State civil service, while the implementation of the recently negotiated Minimum Wage is set to take off.

The governor inherited a rundown infrastructure, with the State virtually cut off from the rest of Nigeria due to the terrible state of our roads. The governor has delivered critical roads infrastructure linking Imo to other States, thereby, opening up massive economic opportunities for the people. He has not also ignored Imo’s internal roads infrastructure, as many roads have received attention within Owerri municipality and across the three geopolitical zones of the State.

From just one State owned university, a polytechnic and one College of Education, all of which were struggling to sustain their different academic programs due to deaccreditation of many of their courses, the Shared Prosperity administration is currently running three State owned universities, a polytechnic, a College of Education and more than seven functional colleges of health and midwifery. Under Governor Uzodimma, Imo State remains the State with the most affordable tertiary education fees in the country. He holds the record of being the governor that has overseen the highest number of medical doctors from Imo State University, Owerri, this is after many years of deregistration of the IMSU medical school due to the non-availability of required facilities and resources. Imo has either improved or maintained its educational ratings due to the governor’s determined and consistent investments in the education of our children.

He has consciously invested in the Imo State health sector, earning us the accolade of being among the best States in Nigeria in the area of primary healthcare provision. The Imo State Health Insurance Scheme introduced during his administration has been described as a revolutionary initiative that has drastically reduced the mortality rate, especially, among mother’s and children. Our vulnerable citizens empowered to access good healthcare at little or no cost, while he has been unrelenting in equipping public hospitals across the State, and as well ensuring adequate motivation for our healthcare professionals.

A communications and development expert, Dr. Chibuike Onyeukwu described the governor’s five years on the saddle as a revolutionary period in the history of the State. According to the Aboh-Mbaise born strategist; “Governor Uzodimma’s vision of a prosperous, safe and developed Imo remains unrivalled in the annals of governance in the State.” He urged stakeholders from across party backgrounds to align with the governor’s vision to sustain the tempo of development and enhance security in the State.

The governor inherited the worse security situation anyone could think of. From the politically motivated protests in response to the well-thought-out and judicially incontrovertible decision of the Supreme Court to return him as the duly elected governor, to the EndSars protest, and the importation and massive arming of non-State actors with the declared objective of making Imo State ungovernable, the governor has been tenacious in his focus and purposeful in his vision of ensuring a safe and secure State for the citizenry. Imo State is today rated as one of the safest States as a result of the governor’s unrelenting commitment to the security of lives and properties in the State.

Comrade Henry Uche, a civil servant, confirmed that the governor has reasonably impacted on the lives of civil servants in the State, even though he believes that the prevailing economic situation in the country makes it difficult for the impact of the governor’s friendly policies towards workers to be felt. While commending the governor for his show of love to workers in the State, he prays that the New Year shall be better for workers than the previous year.

The governor has invested billions of Naira towards ensuring economic independence for our youths through skills empowerment and training for our youths. The Ministry of Digital Economy has trained over 20,000 youths on digital skills and equipped beneficiaries with gadgets to enable them stand on their own economically, while creating jobs for their fellow youths.

As the governor marks five years of impactful and audacious leadership on the 15th of January, His Excellency Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, CON, has his eyes set on the ball, and he knows that while he has not failed to keep to his covenant with God and Imo people in the last five years, he is determined to focus even more attention to ensuring the greatest happiness of the greatest number of Imolites.

IMO CONTINUES TO WIN!

Onwuasoanya FCC Jones is Special Adviser to the Governor of Imo State on Public Communication.

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