The Easter break came at an ideal time for me, a chance to attend the traditional wedding of a cousin I haven’t seen in years as well as find myself once again in the warm embrace of my mom (yes, I will always be that boy).
And so my
journey began, tucked between seats in a worn-out Chisco bus, we set out in the
wee hours of the night looking to touch down in Owerri early the next day.
Needless to say that I ended up sleeping on the tarred road in the company of
other stranded passengers and hungry mosquitoes as our bus broke down in the
middle of no man’s land as predicted and on one side the driver and his
conductor were plotting their escape. A story for another day!
Imagine my relief when I eventually made my
way home the next day. Imo State will always hold a special place in my heart.
It is the turf where I grew up. As one of the many Imo citizens living outside
the State, I have heard tales about my State and I was actually looking forward
to going home.
On hitting
the heart of Owerri, my excitement grew at the colourful scenery. From the well
decorated stones that form the Freedom Fountain, to the fresh paints which
adorn the walls of the city, it was beginning to look like the state we all
longed to see.
And then I
was greeted by strategically positioned messages, which brought me back to life
and reality began to sink. I had the luxury of taking a shot of one of those messages
which is displayed below.
Hmm, I said
to myself, same old messiah syndrome. Nigerian politicians often blow their
trumpets, as if they were funding states’ development with their personal
money. Why not allow citizens who are actually funding development through
their taxes to assess your performance or even allow your work speak for you?
Besides, on the balance of things, a comparison of what has been achieved and what still needs to be done should – for a want of better words – humble one.
My thoughts
and disappointment proved to be only the preamble when I got home to my parents
who are well into their 70s, smiling through life, praying for a miracle that
would make the State Government pay them at least one-month out of a deficit of
36 months pension owed them.
That was
when the real picture began to emerge; a beautiful State built by hungry
people—sounds like the days of slavery! Over
5000 pensioners in Imo State are owed about 36 months backlog of pensions; civil servants under the employ of
the State Government are owed 3-5 months’ salary arrears; about 3000 workers sacked, and uncertainty and insecurity
prevailing among workers as the Government continues to slash worker’s wages
whilst building showy fountains, recreation parks, hotels and shopping malls.
Behind
every state-of-the-art school built in Imo State, there are parents whose
children have to go to school hungry and who cannot provide the basic needs of
their families. And for every new hotel and shopping mall launched in the state
there are old pensioners whose needs are never prioritized, who need their pensions
to access healthcare services. And there are young people who drop out of
school because their parents cannot afford tuition fees, some of whom take up
arms in frustration and begin to feed on the rich. Development of infrastructure should never be at the cost of the people who need those services the most.
Put simply,
this development in the State has come at a dire opportunity cost as the Government
has failed to prioritize. For a State that recently received 26 billion naira bailout fund, one must ask: where did the money
go?
In all this thinking and out-pouring of emotions,
the small voice in my head tells me that there is no development more important
than the wellbeing of the people. The Imo State Government must rethink its
development strategy and place the people at the top of the agenda or it will
continue to build a house of cards with weak foundations that will surely come
crashing on the builders.
