Thursday, February 13, 2025
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Abia State @ 31: Ikpeazu plots a great future

By Kennedy Onyenma

On Saturday, 27 August 2022, Abia State marked her 31 years of existence as a state government following the split from old Imo state on August 8, 1991. For this period of time Abia state has had nine state governors either as military administrators or democratically  elected governors. However, from May 29, 2015, till date, one man has piloted the affairs of the state as executive governor and he is Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu.

The greatest legacy that Governor Okezie Ikpeazu will bequeath to the people of Abia State, may not be the many physical structures and innovations that litter the state. Yes, Ikpeazu has constructed over one hundred roads. He built the first flyover in the state. He has resurfaced some of the major roads connecting Aba major markets. He has been intentional in re-paving entry point roads into Abia State. Among them are Aba-Ubakala old road;  Ekwerazu- Akwa Ibom road; Umuejea-Osokwa Road that leads off Aba-Port Harcourt Express Road  straight to Aba. He has equally fixed parts of the notorious federal Aba- Ikot Ekpene express road.

He did the Abiriba- Nkporo road in Ohafia that was long abandoned, a feat that caused the Deputy Governor and worthy Abiriba son, Rt Hon Ude Oko Chukwu, to shed tears of joy.

Through NEWMAP, the governor recovered some badly damaged erosion sites across the state.: From Umunneochi to Isingwu and Amuzukwu Umuahia ; From Umuakwu and Umuezegu Nsulu; From Ndiogoro to Ifeobara Aba axis. Very early in the life of his administration, he provided counterpart funds thereby activating World Bank funding  that made it possible for  the CSDA to execute some of the notable pro-poor community service projects visible in almost all the local Government areas of Abia State.

He  created a new ministry for the SME out of the existing Ministry of Trade and Investment; built an investment house, thus, ennobling a one stop integration of veritable SME vistas across the state .The JAAC building started by former Governor T.A. Orji is nearing completion.

Yes, never in history have people been so proud of made in Aba products and never in history has Aba creatives received the kind of boosted prominence in the world of design and fashion. From Aba to Lagos, Abuja, United Kingdom and America, Aba brand is eminently identified and proudly endorsed.

Ikpeazu became  the brand ambassador for  made in Aba products, a task he saddled himself with but never relinquished for once in the past seven years. It is on record that Ikpeazu never wore anything, publicly, but the locally made Aba wears. Who can beat that?

He incredibly walked his talk as he took the Aba creatives to national and international exhibitions, and they won laurels. The back-to-back awards received by Abia creatives even at the annual SME awards organised by the VP Yemi Osinbajo’s is evergreen.

Ikpeazu has robustly  facilitated  the  Geometric Power Project, a PPP project of Prof Barth Nnaji. He is key to the present successes recorded in that historic  power project that will eventually provide uninterrupted power supply to over seven out of the seventeen local governments areas in Abia State. Having travelled with Nnaji to many countries  and sat on the negotiating  table where deals and agreements concerning the projects were  discussed and sealed, Governor Ikpeazu’s government will hugely share the glory arising from the landmark and unprecedented power project. Ikpeazu will equally take greater part of the credit  for the revival of  the once moribund  Golden Guinea Breweries, innovative and visionary Enyimba  Shoe Factory and the ambitious and lofty Enyimba Economic City, etc.

The governor’s diverse contributions to governance, perhaps, may seem like normal activities, but they, however,  stem from  focused and purposeful leadership. It may not be populist, hence not appreciated now, but they are  visionary. Moreover, their essence is such that would snowball into visible, concrete impacts in the near future.

Therefore, the best legacy that Ikpeazu will hand over to Ndi Abia  is enthronement of a leader that will not only continue his infrastructural development but sustain and build on his achievements.

they won laurels. The back-to-back awards received by Abia creatives even at the annual SME awards organised by the VP Yemi Osinbajo’s is evergreen.

Ikpeazu has robustly  facilitated  the  Geometric Power Project, a PPP project of Prof Barth Nnaji. He is key to the present successes recorded in that historic  power project that will eventually provide uninterrupted power supply to over seven out of the seventeen local governments areas in Abia State. Having travelled with Nnaji to many countries  and sat on the negotiating  table where deals and agreements concerning the projects were  discussed and sealed, Governor Ikpeazu’s government will hugely share the glory arising from the landmark and unprecedented power project. Ikpeazu will equally take greater part of the credit  for the revival of  the once moribund  Golden Guinea Breweries, innovative and visionary Enyimba  Shoe Factory and the ambitious and lofty Enyimba Economic City, etc.

The governor’s diverse contributions to governance, perhaps, may seem like normal activities, but they, however,  stem from  focused and purposeful leadership. It may not be populist, hence not appreciated now, but they are  visionary. Moreover, their essence is such that would snowball into visible, concrete impacts in the near future.

Therefore, the best legacy that Ikpeazu will hand over to Ndi Abia  is enthronement of a leader that will not only continue his infrastructural development but sustain and build on his achievements.

Abians expect him to prop up a leadership that  builds powerful systems not powerful individuals. By systems, we mean building structures that are self-sustaining and will make an organisation work seamlessly with little effort. You build that by enthroning a leader with an ingrained leadership skills and is  adequately exposed to such systems.

Abia needs a leader that is contented, firm, fair and focused. Because Abia has been on a rigmarole with powerful individuals, for far too long,  its structures, at all levels, have regrettably  weakened. People are not obedient to the laws that govern the state but to laws of the individuals they benefit from. That is why the government will ask traders, at Isi Gate in Umuahia, to vacate their illegal trade posts only for a powerful person to urge them to disobey the order. Or the revenue  Agberos (bus conductors) in Aba, vehemently resisting the express orders of the government because powerful individuals back them.

Inadvertently, the government, rather than creating a strong “system,” has, over time, created strong individuals who will not let go of power no matter the efforts to make them do so.

No powerful man should control the Abia IGR, Ikpeazu has insisted. To ensure this, he has activated a  result-oriented automated and fairly integrated revenue collection system in the state. But this is not without fierce battles with some cabals though, but he seems to be winning with the  more determined Mac Atasie team. Through the digitised payment system, things are coming up fine, even though very far from the expectations of Abia masses. But with a system in place, that is the good news. It will only require another focused and resolutely dogged administrator to sustain it. This will ensure that authority is taken  away from powerful people, who did as they liked with it, to a seamlessly auto-pilot system that shields the state from reverting to status quo.

Abians now know their daily IGR flow or can hazard a guess on what it is,  even from far away Europe. That is made possible by a system of some sort. Ikpeazu has launched a compendium of SMEs in the state as part of the  one-stop  shop initiative  that will create a system that works seamlessly for businesses in Abia. To boost this,  Ikpeazu developed  a 30-year development plan for the state put together by PIND Foundation in collaboration with Abia state government.

Never in Abia 31 years history has it articulated a plan, talk less of a “master” plan! The plan focuses on 11 pillars of development, including oil and gas,  health, education, social protection, governance and  public service  reforms, infrastructure, environment and regional planning and monitoring and evaluation.

Abia under Ikpeazu is not there yet but the structures that enable a veritable system to thrive and get Abia to greater heights have been laid. It is now left for a courageous leader to continue.

Perhaps, that is why Ikpeazu is careful about who succeeds him since he understands the vagaries of Abia  politics and politicians, as well as the precariousness of Abia economics . He does not seem to favour stranger elements, whose sense of patriotism seem beclouded by rage and unquenchable urge for vengeance. He is also careful about unstable personalities with questionable moral rectitude.

That is where the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples’ Democratic Party PDP of the state, Professor Eleazar Uche Ikonne, comes in. But the question is why did the  governor pick Ikonne? Was it just a personal imposition? No, there was an electoral procedure too. But why the preference for Ikonne?

Ikonne is on record as saying that he will grow strong systems, not strong individuals. He is also a no-nonsense person. Ikonne’s antecedents at the Abiaploy is evident. His reform efforts at the Abia State University, ABSU, is exemplary. He strengthened the academic, administrative, infrastructural frontiers being also responsible for the full implementation of the three zone campuses in Umuahia (Law Faculty) and Aba (Pharmacy and Engineering), as well as the existing Uturu campus. This is about system creation. The Law Faculty is up and running while Aba Pharmacy /Engineering schools are nearing completion.

The ABSU three- zone campus plan was an Orji Kalu policy, but none of the VCs could implement it fully until Ikonne came in, showing a strength of character typical of the leader that Abia State needs.

So, Abia needs a man of strong character. When there were IGR leakages at the ABSU owing to payment racketeering, Ikonne stopped them through an electronic payment system, about the same thing  Ikpeazu is doing in government, using automated payment system for the Abia IGR.

Because of  Ikonne’s  personality it is difficult for him to be manipulated or unduly controlled.
One of the biggest problems in Abia is the attempt to control leadership. He knows how to handle such being a management expert. He has an  enviable record of enthroning successful  fiscal policies and human resource management mechanism that check abuse of power. He did it as VC, and throughout his tenure he ensured there was no strike or internal crises that could disrupt the school calendar from 2015 till 2019. Not even staff salary was owed, but for the Covid-19 pandemic period. With a tested system stability  module, Ikonne put ABSU on the path of speedy development.

Ikonne performed creditably well at his former postings . And as the university is a microcosm of the state, he can repeat those giant strides as Abia Governor.

It takes an effectual, sagacious leader, focused, dispassionate technocrat, a confident and contented person to lead Abia. Abia also needs a strong personality with high moral fibre  to withstand the temptations that could either attract or distract the seat of governance. Abia needs a charismatic leader to build a formidable system that will stand the test of time.

Abia is serious business, so there is not likely an opportunity for merger or outright sale, like it is done in financial institutions,  in event of failure due to maladministration or any undisclosed malfeasance. Abians cannot afford to take such risk.


One of the biggest problems in Abia is the attempt to control leadership. He knows how to handle such being a management expert. He has an  enviable record of enthroning successful  fiscal policies and human resource management mechanism that check abuse of power. He did it as VC, and throughout his tenure he ensured there was no strike or internal crises that could disrupt the school calendar from 2015 till 2019. Not even staff salary was owed, but for the Covid-19 pandemic period. With a tested system stability module, Ikonne put ABSU on the path of speedy development.

Ikonne performed creditably well at his former postings. And as the university is a microcosm of the state, he can repeat those giant strides as Abia Governor.

It takes an effectual, sagacious leader, focused, dispassionate technocrat, and a confident and contented person to lead Abia. Abia also needs a strong personality with high moral fibre to withstand the temptations that could either attract or distract the seat of governance. Abia needs a charismatic leader to build a formidable system that will stand the test of time.

Abia is serious business, so there is not likely an opportunity for merger or outright sale, like it is done in financial institutions, in event of failure due to maladministration or any undisclosed malfeasance. Abians cannot afford to take such risk.

One of the biggest obstacles to peace and unity in Abia state is the unsavoury, albeit emerging, tendency towards clannishness. Abia’s unity needs to be strengthened. Thus, Abia needs somebody whose sense of equity and fairness is not in doubt. Abia needs a strong unifier even amid our regional diversities. Ikonne’s implementation of the three zonal -campus policy shows a man of equity and for equity.

Did Ikpeazu notice all these qualities in Ikonne to have been attracted to him? Perhaps, yes. It takes a man with a keen sense of the future, to raise an Ikonne whose personality is a perfect fit for the future that Abians long for.

*Kennedy Onyenma is a public affairs analysts who lives in Port Harcourt.

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