Ayo Alonge
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former governorship aspirant in Imo State, Meckson Okoro, believes that the lingering feud between the immediate past governor in the state, Rochas Okorocha, and the incumbent governor, Emeka Ihedioha, is only an attempt to discourage and distract the present administration from focusing on governance.
Okoro, in this interview, cites certain areas of development for the people of the state, while also fielding questions pertinent to the pros and cons of some economic policies of the Federal Government.
What are the factors that shape politics and governance in Imo State, as of today?
The emergence of the PDP in the governorship election was a surprising and divine one. I say it is divine in that Imo was an APC state and there were so many contenders from various political parties like the PDP, APGA and the rest. The flag bearer of the PDP, Chukwuemeka Ihedioha, as an ace politician, knows his onions and that was why he was able to make it, despite all the hurdles, especially because the last governor did a lot of things wrong. The major factor that led to the emergence of Ihedioha was the unimpressive performance of the APC in Imo State. When you are ruling people, you must be smart enough to gauge the feelings of the people. You must devise certain techniques to realise that. Okorocha would have done very well but he was perceived as running a one-man show and into family governance. These were factors that brought doom for his party in Imo State. Now, there are a lot of challenges that the current governor has to face. If you go to the state today, you will see that some of the roads have been cut off by erosion and it would take the present government a very serious and detailed homework to come out of this challenge. The governor has to focus on critical and major areas that touch on people’s lives. One is road and two is housing. The next one is transportation. As a governor, you should also be able to pay salaries. He must also be smart enough to ensure that there must be local government election. They must be empowered to do their statutory functions. That would make people focus on the local government. One of the biggest mistakes Okorocha made was to close down local government administration and appoint stooges that could not even embark on any project or do anything that would impact the people. A smart governor would have decentralised the system of government. Okorocha cannot be said not to have done anything. He dualised some roads but the quality wasn’t there. He also destroyed the markets and that pitched him against the people. His biggest sin would actually be that he wanted to impose his son-in-law and said we all are women. It is easier to destroy than to build. We had to ensure that the ambition didn’t materialise. There are also some unpopular policies he made. Perhaps Uche Nwosu would have won if he had come to contest on his own merit. As a politician, you have to be very careful of the way you put your personal interest over the people’s interest. He was more focused on installing his son-in-law and that caused the splitting of the party.
The lingering feud between Okorocha and Ihedioha does not appear it would end anytime soon. What impression do you have about that in the area of what it portends for the state?
I think it is part of a deliberate attempt to make the present administration lose focus. It is wrong for the former governor to come and declare with his supporters that they will make the state ungovernable. We cannot have two captains in a ship. You have ruled for eight years and whether you did it right or not, posterity will judge you. What I think the present governor should do is to ignore him. If anyone runs contrary to the law, the governor who is the chief security officer of the state can prevail on them. Our people are a bit impatient and they want action. So, the governor should be focused on governance. The roads should be in good shape to help the people. He will also have to expedite action in delivering low cost housing to the people of the state. No government has focused on that yet. He is already doing that and I am one of the nine-man committee he has constituted to assist the Imo State Housing Corporation to revamp and make it viable. By the time we unbundle the programmes, then the scheme would have been better for it. There are other palliative measures for the government to focus on.
As a member of the nine-man committee, what are the policies you would want to build on?
As I am talking to you, there is no single housing policy from past administrations on housing. Even when you look at the Imo State Housing Corporation, you will think it is an abandoned property. Ihedioha’s government came and set up the committee to look into that and to look at the reforms from 2011 to the present. The essence is to put up a blueprint for housing development since it appears it has been totally neglected. The present governor is doing the right thing by setting up the board that would create the policy framework and enhance a public-private partnership in government. We need to ensure that the demands and aspirations of the people of Imo State are met in that area.
There have been mixed feelings as to the closure of the borders. What would you make of the knocks and kudos that have since greeted that policy of government?
There is no convenient time for a closure of the borders to take place. If past administrations had focused on that in encouraging local production and close the borders, by now we would have been self sufficient in food production. Take for instance, on the petroleum products which is the mainstay for the economy, does it not bother you that we don’t even have a single refinery? All we do is take the raw materials out and bring in the finished products. That is not cost effective. All these are deliberate corrupt policies that seek to enrich those in power. We must start from somewhere. Those borders must remain closed. If we must die because we cannot produce what to eat, let us die. We must not continue to depend on foreigners to feed. That is laziness and that is unpatriotic. So, if there is any good that the Buhari administration has done, it is having the political will to close the borders. They should remain closed provided it is not to the detriment of other sections of the country.