What History Will Surely Not Fail To Capture About Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, 2015-2023, In View..... By Sir Don Ubani
"Some persons or groups, in their selfish and ever futile suppressive desire and efforts, have continued to do all they think they can do to suppress History".
Hardly does a definition of a subject change. Even where additions are essentially made, the guiding concept of its definition remains the same.
At the preliminary stages of study of History, we had been made to understand History as the study of a whole series of the past connected with a particular person, people or even events. That was many years ago.
Even before then, that was the definition. That definition has not changed and may not change hereafter.
If there are subjects inseparably associated with human-beings and their dynamics, History stands tall amongst them. Yet some persons or groups, in their selfish and ever futile suppressive desire and efforts, have continued to do all they think they can do to suppress History.
Unfortunately for them, History, like Reggae of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and Lucky Dube, is insuppressible. The more attempts are made to wipe it out of human memory in Nigeria, the more irrepressible and captivating it looms.
In Nigeria, for instance, the Federal Government had removed the study of History as a core subject from Secondary Schools' Curriculum in 2007. But that has not succeeded in preventing History from being recorded in the country.
At the most appropriate time, more would be said about the lingering challenges of History as a core subject in Nigeria's Secondary Schools' Curriculum. Suffice it to ask, why must the Nigerian Youths be prevented from knowing the past as it relates to their origin, challenges and growth?
For now, let us dwell on what History Will surely not fail to capture about Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.
Governance is a very intricate and complex act of Man. It is an act that, when not properly scrutinized and analysed, could put the analyst in a jaundiced position and, so, render his or her judgement defective.
For any Government to be assessed properly, its assessment must be holistic. This is obviously because governance must, of necessity, be composed of various integral yet inseparable departments. Any assessment of the departments in isolation or to the exclusion of any other or others can not arrive at a whole.
Therefore, assessing a government requires being dispassionate and holistic, as no assessment can stand the test of time if driven by prejudice.
By God's grace, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu would make his exit as Governor of Abia State on May 29, 2023. By then, Analysts, Commentators, his Friends and even Foes might have a field day trying to create a literary picture of their impression(s) about the Ex Governor. Such impressions would be conveyed according to the critical disposition of the writer. Naturally, there would be persons who write with sincerity of purpose and others with bias.
Even at that, no matter on what side the writer would be coming from, there are obviously certain truths that History will not fail to capture about Governor Ikpeazu.
It would be unimaginable to think or even feel that History will record Governor Ikpeazu as a haughty and disrespectful character. History would definitely refuse not to place Governor Ikpeazu as one whose wife, in all honesty and ramifications, was among the best of Governors' wives, if not even the best in Nigeria. Humility and empathy in Dr (Mrs) Nkechi Ikpeazu stand next to none.
Leadership, as opposed to rulership which is more prevalent in Nigeria, is woven around intelligence and wisdom. Whenever one comes into close contact with a true Leader, one should go home richer in knowledge and wisdom. For any one that has ever had a close contact with Governor Ikpeazu, he or she would agree with the writer that History will certainly not be prepared to capture the Governor as a man that was intellectually or mentally porous or deficient.
Apart from being a sound Intellectual and Scholar, Governor Ikpeazu is rich in Native or Natural Wisdom.
Governor Ikpeazu has, so far, delivered a total of Ninety-Seven Roads in the State. Many Schools have been built by his Administration. Agriculture has continued to receive a boost under his watch. The Manufacturing Sector has never been so propelled as it is today under Governor Ikpeazu. It is clear that History will never allow itself to portray the Governor as one who came on stage with a whole lot of expectations but went off the scene without quantifiable legacies.
On area of youth employment, History will not fail to place Governor Ikpeazu high amongst his contemporaries. In addition to conventional Civil and Public Service Employment, the Governor has well over Two Thousand Political Appointees in his kitty. This, probably, is the highest in the whole of South-East of Nigeria. These are Abians, with a very high youth percentage. Except one that is reckless and lacks managerial discipline and acumen, these appointments are, in the least, good sources of start-up capitals. Many wealthy Captains of Industries in Nigeria today did not have such opportunities. It is expected that the wise and prudent among these youths would take maximum advantage of the Governor's generosity and carve a niche for their future. If it were in a football match, what the Governor has done would simply be interpreted to have earned a penalty for his team. Whoever that fails to convert the penalty to a goal should hold himself to blame.
The issue of salaries of staff of some Parastatals in the State had taken the front burner for some time in the State. Without wishing to delve into the nitty-gritty of the whole narrative, specifically as it affects Management of subventions and internally-generated revenues, it should be acknowledged that the Governor has most magnanimously given approval for release of months of subventions to the ailing Parastatals. It is hoped that Management of such Agencies should be responsibly honest, transparent and accountable in managing the released resources. It must be noted that a combination of Avarice, Managerial Indiscipline and Recklessness has, in the main, been responsible for the financial misfortunes of Parastatals in the State.
Politics and Governance are twin brothers that have all potentials of raising dust, controversies and storms. In many States, History has recorded turbulences between Governors and their Predecessors. Many of the Predecessors are known to be extremely greedy. We are, however, lucky in Abia State, as Governor Ikpeazu, not minding expectations from some quarters, has maintained incomparable equanimity. In many other States, there is hardly any love lost between the Governors and their Deputies. Here in Abia State, the harmony and mutual trust existing between Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and his Deputy, Rt Hon Ude Oko Chukwu, is one that could be the envy of many other States. The reversed situations in some other States have affected the peace and even security in such States. The Governor does not perceive Politics and Governance from the narrow perspective of parochialism and bitterness, unlike some that had presided over the Affairs of the State in the past. He prevents and avoids any situation that could hamper the peace of the State. No wonder, Abia State is among the most peaceful in Nigeria. History will, therefore, not fail to capture Governor Ikpeazu as a Leader who, in all his deeds, gave peace a chance.
Many Governments have been known for their insensitivity to the plight of Women. Under Governor Ikpeazu, especially with the exceptional supportive role of his wife, Women in Abia State are evidently and conspicuously represented in almost every segment of his Administration. No doubt, they have, at least, Thirteen Percent(13%) of Political Offices in the State.
In his recent verified tweets, Governor Ikpeazu has been relentless in his pledge and assurances that all on-going projects in the State, including roads, bridges, the flyover at Osisioma Junction and the new Government House will, God's willing, be completed and delivered before he makes his constitutional exit on 29th May, 2023.
From any angle it might be viewed, History, taking into consideration the indisputability of facts that by the end of Ikpeazu's tenure as Governor, it would be clear that no previous Governor would have recorded up to Forty Percent(40%) of the Cumulative Achievements of his Administration, will surely not fail to keep him for records as a Governor who, indeed, meant well for the people of God's own State.
Sir Don Ubani; KSC, JP
Okwubunka of Asa,
6th December, 2020
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