Jude Ohanele is the Programme Director, Development Dynamics. In this interview with our correspondent, Johnkennedy Uzoma, in Owerri, he spoke on a number of issues, bordering on the activities of the present administration in the state.
With the new government in place in Imo State, expectations from citizens appear to be high.
Yes, people are expectant really because a lot of things are not working and so many things are dysfunctional. So, people are expecting that this government would do better and it is my hope that they would do better and improve on the life of the people.
Do you have confidence in the capacity of the governor to tackle the monumental challenges, facing the state?
Well, I don’t know much about his (Emeka Ihedioha) capacity, but now that he has won as the governor, I will know his capacity to govern. I think they need to move. I am not sure they are moving at the speed that I am impressed with. So, there is need for them to improve in what they are doing as much as possible by reaching out to the people of the state on exactly what they want to achieve.
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In other words, you are not satisfied with the way the administration has started?
I am not seeing much. I was not happy that the commissioners were not put in place on time. The only thing I know is that the impunity of the past is no longer what we are seeing. There is a sense in which they seem to be talking about process of setting up committees, setting up judicial panels, which are very important to look at some of the things that happened in the past. But it is also important that the budget of the state is immediately reviewed and then government amend the budget if there is need for that and map out clearly what they would do between now and December.
Having examined the quality of appointments made by the government, what is your reaction?
My feeling is that the government of the day is made up of people from the old brigade. I am not sure of what they would be able to do in terms of delivering good governance which we are expecting. We are watching. I would have been impressed if we have a lot more younger professionals who have the energy to drive the process. But be that as it may, the governor who has the right to make his choice and the House of Assembly also has made their choice on who they want by approving for those positions through their legislative powers. But now that the cabinet has been constituted, we hope they will hit the ground running.
Many Imolites are beginning to be disenchanted by the failure of government to put on ground structures. Do you share their views?
I feel that the government needs to move with a better view but this whole 100 days in office does not make much meaning to me as a person. What is most important is that government should set up systems and re-establish new systems that can help to start the development of the state and the earlier that is done the better for us. I am not bordered about whether there is 100 days in office or not. What is important is that government should be moving in the direction of progress.
The government has set up some probe panels to examine the activities of the past government. What is your take on this?
Of course, it is important because people have been complaining that there were irregularities. You cannot define irregularities except you get a technical group to look at it. I think those committees are important because it make everyone to understand that people must be responsible for what they have done in government even when they have gone
Imo people are still living without good roads, electricity, among others. What advice do you have for the government?
For the roads, I think government needs to improve on filling the portholes, bearing in mind that there are some road constructions that cannot be done in the rain. But that does not mean that they cannot get sand or granite to pour on these big gullies around World Bank road and other places in the state. I am aware that much has been done along Okigwe road towards Ekemele, but there is the need for more on other roads so that people would be able to move freely. We also have the same challenges around Emekuku and Umuahia roads. My hope is that government should put in place some palliative measures while we wait for the roads construction to take off.
In terms of electricity, it is not the problem of the state government. Electricity is a big mess caused by the Federal Government and the agencies of the Federal Government and we hold them accountable for that. In terms of other things such as education, health care, this government has a lot of duties to do by making sure they clearly define what they are doing.
Would you support the idea of probing the past administration?
Yes. I think every government that leaves should be probed so that if there is any mess, it would be corrected so that when Governor Ihedioha leaves, he would as well be probed at the end of his tenure as governor.
What are the things you would want the government to do for the state to be economically viable?
The government has to run the state with an open budget so that everybody would know what is happening. The governor needs to be sincere with the resources of the state and avoid wastage of public funds and at the end of the day look at the ease of doing business report and use it as a major tool to know if they are getting it right or not. Until we improve on the ease of going business, the economy would not improve, because as we speak it is not easy to do business in Imo State. So the government must do a lot of work to make it easier to do business in the state.
Do you think Imo State would cope with the introduction of the TSA policy?
Yes it is good and it helps government to make sure government funds are not stolen. To have a single account for the government is very good and I recommend it and my hope is that they would implement it so that nobody takes away government money into their private account.
As the Programme Director, Development Dynamics, how far has it gone?
We are actually doing a lot and the organisation is growing. We have been able to impact knowledge into different sectors of the economy. We have been able to do projects in the state and our flagship on designing citizenship engagement in the electoral process has continued and has been delivered. We have done the Solar Energy project at Egbogu recently and our vitamin A cassava project has been the major flagship project of Development Dynamics. We have continued to deliver on those project and we are going to do more to ensure improved living standard of our people.
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So far, how many people have benefited from your programme?
Development Dynamics has actually impacted into the lives of tens of thousands of people in various communities across the state and we are going to do more both those impacted directly and those who by extension impacted into others. For example, our vitamin A cassava project has been able to benefit up to 9,000 farming household directly. And by extension from those people, we have a projection that about 35,000 farming household have benefited. Then with the other project, we are able to reach up to 12 communities with about 20,000 people. So when you look at that you would see that we have been able to impact so many people, excluding our radio programmes that reaches out to millions of people
Local governments in the state are being revived by the present government. Are you impressed?
I have not yet seen anything been revived. Local Government Areas are still under transition committee or what they call Interim Management Committee. Not different from what we had in the past. It is only when there is democratic election that independent observers would see the election as free and fair that you can talk about that
What are the five areas you would want the government to focus on?
Government needs to act on the issue of hunger, because people are hungry. There is the need for government to invest seriously in food production and process, not just food production but production of nutritious food. Government needs to clearly pass a law criminalising violence in the state and make sure it is implemented so that nobody takes out violence on anybody and gets away with it. The state needs to work aggressively to improve on the educational system to inject new blood into the school system to improve on school supervision and makes those children have the necessary materials to learn in the school. Government needs to make sure that the health sector is improved so as to revive the moribund ones to make them effective to take care of the people. I think if government is able to work on these areas and also improve on the road network, things would work well in the state.
What is your advice to Imo people?
I call on the people of the state to continue to support and hold government accountable so that they can deliver on our development needs.
