KINGSLEY EBERE
Ndigbo Media Forum Worldwide led by the National Coordinator, Rev. Paul Eze, has commenced evacuation of the Southeast Governors on performance over the promises made to the people before they were given the mandate on good governance as a means of check and balance.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that it was the decision of the group at their end of the year meeting held recently in Lagos State, where a committee was set up to go to Southeast to evaluate their performances.
This was disclosed by the National Coordinator of the group, Rev.Paul, who stated that an independent investigation committee will be dispatched to the various States in the Southeast to actually ascertain the performance of the Governors.
He explained that the first Governors to be evaluated are: Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, Abia State, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo State, Delta and then Rivers State.
Rev Eze also explained that aside from the Governors, all the elected Igbo officials from National to State Assemblies, Local Government Chairmen and Councillors will be also evaluated and the findings made public.
He stated that it was not meant to witchhunt any elected officials but to hold them accountable to the people based on the mandate given to them.
He explained that the evaluation will not be only on the infrastructural projects but including human capacity building and psychological development of the people through good governance.
He further stated that it was one of the core principles of forming Ndigbo Media Forum to ensure that Igboland has good leadership that are accountable to the people. And the aim of the check and balance is for the Governors to live up to expectations.
“The major problem bedeviling the people of the southeast geopolitical zone, in the thinking of many, is not that of building infrastructure or increasing the statutory allocation to the five states in the zone, but harnessing and galvanizing the vast potentials that abound everywhere in the zone and make use of them and appropriately.”
“From the beginning of independence till date, a lot of economic blueprints have been marshalled out to make the zone able to stand on its own and cater for the overall needs of its people.”
“But somewhere along the line, they have became political issues, which eventually ended up in the dustbin of history. The very robust ones put in place during the regional days could not stand the test of time because they too were abandoned. Today, the zone is grappling with a lot of problems that have refused to go away due to bad leadership and corruption.”
“Some of the things that ought to have become a thing of the past are now major issues of discussion, leading to cries of marginalization and the wanton deprivation suffered by the people everywhere including their very communities. Today, the economic status of the zone has taken a nosedive into the abyss, while the very infrastructure which the successive administrations claimed to have built have all given way and the people are merely existing in their states and communities, wasting away, and virtually eating out of the bread of sorrow” Rev. Paul stated.