Gov Okezie Ikpeazu


by Tony Icheku


For Abia  State governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, series of unconnected dots appears  to have created the wrong impression about his administration. During an an encounter with journalists at Governor's Lodge, Aba, the governor whose sturdy physique belie his cerebral inclination remarks that drawing from his intellectual and scientific orientation,  he has given governance and administration of the State his best shot and would gladly await  the verdict of history, which he affirms would  surely  vindicate him.

Omuma road, before Gov Ikpeazu's coming


Gov Ikpeazu, speaking to members of Abia Online Media Practitioners, admitted that where he initially missed it was assuming what worked in the academia where he started from would also work in politics. "As a lecturer, the steps of advancement and recognition is stated and clearcut, and once one meets the required target, advancement is automatic. "The essence of leadership is to solve problems, not to seek media commendation", he argued.  adding that as a lecturer, he knew  exactly what must be done to get promoted to the next level, therefore becoming the governor, he decided to  face his job squarely, without taking the media into consideration, which unfortunately has defined the persisting  negative media impression of his administration.


Omuma road before Gov Ikpeazu's coming


Delving into the vision of his administration, he governor shared with passion, the vision which determined the reconstruction of roads in the bustling commercial city of Aba: "My vision was to connect all the major markets with good  roads which will make possible easy flow of traffic so that traders coming into Aba to make purchases from one market to the other do not sit for hours in traffic gridlock - One set of people specially captured my interest,  those doing 'Oso ahia' who need to move fast from one market to the other to get exactly what their customer wanted. I tried to solve the challenge of  their getting  held up in traffic.  I was equally  bothered by the traffic gridlock visitors entering Aba from Aba-Owerri  road experiences, that was the essence of the flyover, to ensure smooth flow of traffic from the Express through Aba-Owerri  road.  The flooding on most  roads in Aba when it rains also posed a challenge to me.

Omuma road after Gov Ikpeazu's intervention


Gov Ikpeazu absolved his predecessors of blame from Aba's notorious collapsed roads. They built roads, he said, but the roads failed. "So my first question is why did they  fail?, to avoid making the same mistake. The search for an answer led me to use a special technology - rigid pavement and drainages  which takes  cognizance of  underground waters. If I did not ask the right questions, I would not have done the right thing and I would not been able to do the right thing in Osusu road and most of the roads I constructed in Aba.

"I am interested in building roads that can stand the test of time so that the person who will come after me will not go back to those roads  because we used  the rigid pavement  technology which involves cement, concrete with 9 inch 9 rod,  it required some hard work and time, unfortunately our people  wanted to see quick results.

"It has taken me four years to do Aba-Owerri road because I had to take away the water that usually percolate at Ngwa High School, to remove the water at Ngwa High School, I had to do 3 kilometers drainage to Rhema University and today, we have solved the problem opposite the Anglican Church and that of Ngwa High School"

He noted that roads like Omuma road extension, Osusu road would collapse early if tarred with laterite and overlay, while with rigid pavement, they would last much longer, for example, he noted that  Umuala road has a 30-year lifespan.


Omuma road after Gov Ikpeazu's intervention


 "We do not need to keep recycling projects, deep thinking, rigour, resilience and hard work are required to do work that lasts a long time. For there to be real development, successive administration must evolve new projects, and not returning to work on projects past administration must have executed"

Like the proverbial lizard which fell from the iroko tree and choosed to applaud itself, Gov Ikpeazu maintained that his "...interventions are very uncommon. They are not visible to the pedestrian thinker, but one day a philosopher-leader will come along and  acknowledge that I passed this way" 

He maintained that   Abia under him has achieved giant strides in  the area of infrastructural  development, roads construction and other things  that would ensure  posterity will acknowledge he got right.

"...I never promised anybody that I am going to do everything,  but I am ready and prefer to be judged by the things I have done so far", he submitted

Some of the lasting legacies, he says he would bequeath to his successor include the Abia Long Term Development Plan, and masterplans for the cities of Aba and Umuahia. "Since its creation, Abia never had such plans which would guide an incoming governor where to start from on assumption of office".