Enugu: An agenda for Gov Chime’s second coming

Although the Governor Chime-led government which came into being in 2007 has strived to remain focused on its 4-point agenda, comprising physical infrastructure, economic expansion, rural development and service delivery as well as good governance, it nonetheless faced challenges and criticisms.

As the government kick starts afresh a four-year tenure, many say the challenges are even more glaring. To confront the challenges headlong, therefore, not a few people have bared their mind on what they expect of the government. Professor Chinedu Osita Nebo, the Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Oye-Ekiti, set the tone for a new agenda for the governor when he delivered a lecture at the inauguration ceremony recently.

In his thought provoking lecture Nebo, a former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria (UNN), literally placed what could be regarded as a blueprint on Chime’s table for the government to kick off. The blueprint contained in clear terms, what Nebo saw as the great expectations of millions of Enugu people who Chime must endeavour not to fail.

According to Nebo, one of the factors that made the previous administration to earn an ignoble place in the history of Enugu was that it allowed itself to be hijacked by scoundrels and vagabonds, incompetent and inefficient people whose watchwords were brigandage and impunity; who formed an unbreakable chain round the arrowhead of the government.

To avoid such, Nebo told Chime to always emphasise on competence and integrity over geographical zoning in appointments to sensitive offices, stressing that though the actions and pronouncements of the governor should be seen as politically correct, he should always strive towards putting square pegs in square holes.

“Henceforth, only true choices of the people should be allowed to represent them at the state and national assemblies. Some of those now elected would have lost woefully but for the resounding confidence that our people had in Governor Chime. Some of these people now going to represent us never loved or cared for their people and never greeted them or listened to them. Some of them were so arrogant and people were ready to humiliate them but for Governor Chime’s sake,” Nebo said.

Nebo further harped on the need for the government to see agriculture as “survival venture,” adding that “one of the goals of the state is to become a net exporter of food.”

The vice chancellor further told Chime that the actualisation of his government’s goals in the agricultural sector might be an uphill task because of “the improper manner things are being done in the state.”

He told Chime that as a farmer he, Nebo, had never seen or bought a bag of fertilizer from the government agric agency. “Most farmers can testify to this,” he remarked, stressing that the FADAMA and commercial agric loan projects were worse off in Enugu than in most other states.

He said: “Youth unemployment should be vigorously addressed so that youths could be deployed to farming. These things cannot be done by armchair technocrats and people who are only in government to loot or retain political relevance,” he cautioned.

Enugu State Government, Nebo said, must not only show zero tolerance for corruption and incompetence but must be seen as doing so, stressing that those in the state government found to be corrupt in any way must be shown the way out and there should be no compromise while members of the National Assembly who embezzle their constituency allowances should be disciplined and recalled.

“Commissioners and public servants who block good enterprises or projects because of their failure to meet their personal demands should be disciplined and forbidden from taking up official appointments in the future. Such people are enemies of our people. Public servants who misrepresent our governor by their antagonism to the people and their high-handedness should be eased out of their positions.”

On complaints that the governor was making himself incommunicado or inaccessible by not answering his phone calls or responding to text messages, Professor Nebo appealed to Chime for a change of attitude, saying: “Access to our governor should not be made a herculean task….We should not be denied access to him. The governor should learn to pick his calls and return the calls of some important dignitaries.”

In the area of the state economy, Nebo said the government’s creation of an industry-friendly environment should be sustained and enhanced and that Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) must be supported to access loans from the Bank of Industry. “This necessitates that the state government should pay its counterpart fund to make the scheme a reality. The payments can be in tranches so as to avoid undue stress on government resources,” the erudite don said.

Nebo also called on the state Information and Culture ministry to continually evolve ways of marketing Enugu State as the “quintessential retirement home for all Igbos”, noting that the ministry had been sleeping for too long.

In a rather philosophical manner, Professor Nebo reminded the governor of the need to keep his eyes away from the allure of office in the form of corruption, embezzlement or personal acquisition of material things, noting that that singular sin has caused the political waterloo of some Nigerian public office holders.

Beyond the issues raised by Nebo, other observers also pinpointed areas that need to be addressed. For instance, observers say the re-elected governor should try in his second term to enhance his relationship with the press because of the cat and mouse relationship that had existed between media and the Enugu State government.

Others who spoke with Daily Trust said Governor Chime must be reminded of the fact that most landlords and agents in the state have suddenly become lords unto themselves. One observer puts it: “Most landlords and agents in the state are operating governments of their own as there seems to be no constituted authority or legislation to properly regulate their activities. They go for the throat of the helpless and hapless tenants.”

Nebo did not conclude his agenda without reminding Chime of God’s expectation of leaders. He quoted from the Bible when prophet Micah said in Micah 6:8, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

For the re-elected governor, the people have spoken through the second term mandate given to him during the April election. As he settles down to assume this mandate, the people are keenly watching to see how Chime would fare in the next four years.

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