Uzodimma: Indomitable Leader That Makes History And Difference

The foregoing prophecy by the Catholic priest in Enugu Diocese, Father Ejike Mbaka, that foretold the emergence of Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma GSSRS, CON,  as Governor of Imo State was doubted by many until it came to pass and Uzodimma made history.

Hope Uzodimma was born on 12 December 1958 in Omuma; his father Chief Michael Uzodimma held the chieftaincy title of Igwe of Ozuh Omuma and his mother was Ezinne Rose Uzodimma (née Nneoha). He is a kinsman of the Okoro family of Etiti-Omuma. Uzodimma is a devout Catholic, and married to Chioma Uzodimma with seven children.

Uzodimma, who holds a Diploma in Maritime Management Technology, and Higher Diploma in the same field, from the Federal University of Technology Owerri, earlier obtained his secondary school certificate from Mgbidi Secondary School, Oru West in 1982. He also has a bachelor’s degree in International Studies and Diplomacy from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to his entry into politics, Uzodimma was a businessman with vast business interests. He holds the ceremonial title of Onwa-Netiri Oha of Omuma in Oru local government of Imo State.

Early political career

Hope Uzodinma began his political career during the Second Nigerian Republic, joining the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN), where in 1983, he became the Imo State youth leader. In the 1990s.

In 1999, after the return to democracy, Uzodimma joined the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), where he served as a member of the party’s National Caucus, National Executive Committee and on the Board of Trustees, at various times between 1999 to 2017. As a party Chief in Imo State, Uzodimma was a close associate of the then Governor Achike Udenwa until late 2002, when he ahead of the April 2003 elections, decamped to the Alliance for Democracy (AD), becoming the party’s candidate for the Imo State gubernatorial election. After losing the election to Udenwa, he returned to the PDP in February 2004. He later contested the PDP governorship primaries in December 2006, coming in second to Senator Ifeanyi Araraume. In 2011, after the incumbent Governor Ikedi Ohakim joined the PDP, Uzodimma endorsed him to run for a second-term as Governor of Imo State, favouring him over Rochas Okorocha.

In January 2011, Uzodimma won the PDP senatorial primary for Imo West, gaining 2,147 votes, while the incumbent Senator Osita Izunaso came second with 891 votes. Uzodimma was later disqualified by a federal high court judgment on the ground that he had not been cleared by the PDP electoral panel led by Nwafor-Orizu. In March 2011, a court of appeal issued a stay of execution while the case was being decided, allowing Uzodimma to campaign. On 5 April 2011 the Court of Appeal upheld the federal high court judgement, Uzodimma later appealed this decision at the Supreme Court. In the April 2011 elections, Uzodimma received 85,042 votes, ahead of former Governor Achike Udenwa of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) with 64,228 votes and Rajis Okpalan Benedicta of the All Progressives Grand Alliance with 57,110 votes. In May 2011, the Supreme Court overturned the earlier decisions and declared that Uzodimma was the valid candidate and therefore had been elected – he made history.

On 29 May 2011, Uzodimma was sworn-in as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Imo (West Senatorial District). He was re-elected for a second term in the Senate during the 2015 election – thus becoming the first person from Orlu Zone to achieve such historical feat.

In 2018,  he left the Peoples Democratic Party and joined the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC) in order to contest for the Governorship position in Imo State in the 2019 general election.

In March 2019, the Independent National Electoral Commission sitting in Imo announced Emeka Ihedioha as the winner of the governorship election.

 Uzodimma later challenged the victory of Ihedioha up to the Supreme Court.

On 14 January 2020, the Supreme Court declared Uzodimma, the duly elected Governor of Imo State. The court held that results from 388 polling units were wrongly excluded from votes ascribed to Uzodimma and the APC in Imo adding that the first appellant Uzodimma holds the majority of lawful votes cast.

On 15 January 2020, he and Professor Placid Njoku were sworn-in as the Governor and Deputy Governor of Imo State respectively.

Soon after assuming office, Uzodimma mobilized contractors to fix the Owerri Water Works known as the Otamiri Water Scheme. Today, the public taps are back to life in Owerri metropolis.

He also did not hesitate to tackle the decay in the State Civil Service. The situation was so bad that government businesses were conducted in bars and residences of those in power. Permanent secretaries had been stripped and castrated of their authority, while the general despondency among staff was palpable.

Uzodimma moved in quickly to do a holistic turnaround of the Civil Service. Today, things have changed for good. In addition to the automation of the Civil Service, the entire Secretariat has been rehabilitated. The Permanent Secretaries are now the chief reporting officers of their various ministries. Again, through the training and retraining of civil servants, the morale of the staff has been boosted. They not only work in a conducive environment but now enjoy free transportation to and from work every day. The permanent secretaries now have official cars – a situation that was non-existent before he intervened. But, most importantly, workers in Imo State now receive their salaries promptly. Uzodimma even paid them the 13th-month salary in December 2021.

Next, Uzodimma  started tackling the problem of roads and related infrastructure. Almost all the major roads leading to Owerri, the state capital, were impassable when he assumed office. The internal roads were even in a worse state. Before one knew what was happening, some mischievous elements started composing derogatory songs with his name but he wasn’t angry with anyone since government is a continuum.

However, just under 3 years, what you hear about Imo State is road revolution, though former President Buhari preferred to refer to it as infrastructure revolution.

At the last count, Uzodimma has reconstructed more than 100 quality roads in less than three years. These include urban and rural roads. Former President Muhammadu Buhari visited Imo State for a record two times to commission some of the roads executed by Uzodimma administration outside the ones he commissioned virtually.

Interestingly, some of the roads fixed are federal roads, especially the Owerri – Orlu dual carriageway, the Owerri – Okigwe Road and the Owerri-Mbaise-Obowo Road, which is nearing completion. These are signature projects given their economic importance to Imo people and the huge resources expended on them.

Uzodimma also did the Naze – Ihiagwa – Nekede – Obinze road leading to two Federal higher institutions of learning, namely Federal Polytechnic Nekede and the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, and of course the 34 Artillery Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Obinze. The Iwuanyanwu Bye-Pass and Egbu – Chukwuma Nwoha roads and the Lake Nwaebere and Relief Market roads located within Owerri metropolis also need to be mentioned because they were recovered along with tens of houses from rampaging flood.

Recall that for more than six years, flood completely took over those roads and the houses and people fled from the areas. Using a novel balloon flood-control technology, Uzodimma, recovered the roads and the houses and ever since, the economic value of estates in the area has vastly appreciated. The flood menace is now a thing of the past in those areas.

Presently, the Uzodimma Administration  has started a similar scheme in another part of Owerri to take care of the Works Layout, Amakohia and Akwakuma axes, which is also prone to heavy flooding. The aim is to ultimately make Owerri capital City completely flood-free in the next few years.

As part of efforts to stimulate the economy of the state,  government has awarded contracts for the construction of five rural roads in each of the 27 Local Government Areas of the state. Upon completion, these roads will ease the movement of goods and services across the entire state.

Meanwhile, Uzodimma has also started the reconstruction of Owerri – Mbaise –Obowi Road, which connects Imo to Abia State and the Orlu- Mgbee – Akokwa – Uga Road, which leads to Anambra State. These form part of his administration’s economic blueprint for the growth and development of the state.

Accordingly, he has launched an industrial policy for the state, which is aimed at accelerating growth in all sectors of the state economy.

The  blueprint for the development of the state, which he released during his campaign, is woven around a solid foundation known as the shared prosperity creed, encapsulated in Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery. This is a deliberate policy to get the state working again.

 The  reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts did not make government lose sight of the other leg of the tripod, which is recovery. In this regard, Uzodimma has also recovered assets and property worth billions of naira, including a university established at a cost of 40 billion naira, from those who looted the state’s treasury.

Uzodimma is also expanding the frontiers of knowledge by establishing another university known as, the University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences.

Uzodimma is equally, rehabilitating secondary and primary schools. Currently, he is  building one new primary school in each of the 305 wards of the state.

Since it is an established fact that health is wealth, Uzodimma is paying adequate attention to the health of citizens by instituting a free mobile clinic that moves around the rural areas to offer free medical services to the people.

Uzodimma has also achieved accreditation for Imo schools of nursing at Mbaise, Awo-Omamma and Amaigbo. Most importantly, Uzodimma has revived the Imo State University Teaching Hospital (IMSUTH), Orlu.

Prior to his assumption of office as Governor, the hospital was a glorified morgue. The morale of staff was at its lowest ebb, due to backlog of salaries owed them, in addition to lack of equipment to work with.

However, to the glory of God, Uzodimma has changed the narrative. For the first time in six years, Imo State University Teaching Hospital, IMSUTH, has graduated new sets of medical doctors, numbering over 300. That feat was possible because, Uzodimma flooded the institution with state-of-the-art equipment, cleared the backlog of salaries and gave the school a new lease of life.

Equally,  he has been meeting government financial obligations to all state-owned tertiary institutions.

Also in line with his policy of recovery, Uzodimma has resuscitated the multi-million naira palm plantation known as Adapalm Nig LTD, which was the goose that laid the golden eggs for the state previously. The company, which was run down by previous administrations was actually the mainstay of the state’s economy, in terms of generation of internal revenue and offering employment to thousands of Imo youths. Now, the company is back on track through Uzodimma’s efforts. Gov. Uzodimma has also recovered the Imo State Shoe Factory and currently reviving Avutu Modern Poultry LTD. His goal is to boost the economy of the state as well as offer employment to youths.

Uzodimma’s drive to enhance trade and develop the economy of the state received a significant boost with the recent approval for the dredging of Orashi River to link it to the Atlantic.

He said: “Today, I am proud and pleased to announce that the Federal Government has given me the assurance that the Oguta port project will be completed. The economic impact of this singular development will be far-reaching.”

“Since it is obvious that government alone cannot employ all our teeming youths, we also developed appropriate programmes to train them in various skills so as to empower them to become self-employed and potential employers of labour. Consequently, I created a separate ministry for that purpose. More than 18,000 youths have so far benefited from the exercise while government has spent more than N8b to drive the process.”

It is also on record that Imo state is the first state to create a Ministry of Digital Economy and e- government. The focus here is to train the youths in different digital Skills for self-employment. It is expected that no fewer than 1,000 Imo youths will benefit from the training. The belief is that through digital Skills alone the government can create a minimum of 10,000 jobs annually for youths.

Uzodimma, has also launched the Imo green revolution campaign, making the State the first to do so in sub – Saharan Africa. The target is to buy into the opportunities created by the global efforts at combating the severe effects of climate change, with its attendant potential for the emergence of small and medium-scale enterprises, to create employment opportunities for the people, increase internally generated revenue while making the environment safer for everyone.

His words: “In all, I am happy that I now have a larger platform to empower our youths because that is what I have been doing all my life. I believe that the more we engage our youths in productive ventures, the less crime we have in the society.

“In terms of security, I am happy that we are working in harmony and synergy with the security agencies and vigilantes to keep the peace. As a matter of fact, the state has expended huge sums of money to achieve and maintain the peace which we enjoy today. In my moments of reflection, I wonder how much more we could have achieved if we did not have to face these distractions. I am sure I am not alone in this reflection. That is why I am continuously appealing to instigators of violence and insecurity to embrace peace for the interest of the development of the state. Albeit, I can confidently say today that Imo state is much safer than it was when we assumed office.”

Indeed, Uzodimma  has done marvellously well within the available resources and in spite of the hostile environment, he met on ground.

Today, all government businesses are conducted in Government House because he rebuilt the place unlike what it used to be when government businesses were conducted in bush bars and guest houses.

 Today,  Executive Council meetings are held in the brand new, state–of–the–art Executive Council Chambers built by Uzodimma administration. Today, members of the Imo State House of Assembly have returned from their exile of more than eight years wherein they were conducting the business of law-making in a make-shift building after the House of Assembly complex collapsed. They have returned to the hallowed Chambers because Uzodimma completely rebuilt it and gave them a new Assembly Complex with state-of-the-art communication gadgets. Today Imo State judges can proudly raise their heads high before their counterparts from other states because Uzodimma have provided them with Sport Utility Vehicles, SUVs, as their official vehicles.

All the listed achievements are verifiable.

According to Uzodimma: “I am personally driven by the words of Mahatma Gandhi, the great Indian sage, who charged us to be the change we want to see in the world. I thank God that in the less than three years that I have been in office, we have accomplished so much. I thank God that in spite of all distractions we remained firm and focused. I thank God that even our worst critics and naysayers are beginning to concede that Imo State is far better today than it was three years ago. I thank God that even those who stoked the flames of insecurity in the past are slowly, but steadily relenting and peace has returned to Imo State. I thank God that after almost three years in office, nobody has been able to accuse me of any form of corruption nor has anybody traced any estate anywhere, which I acquired after assuming office. Yes, to the glory of God, I have stayed on course with the prayers and support of my family and people of goodwill and I have kept faith with my covenant with my God.”

I am confident that history will be kind to Uzodimma.

Ben AHANONU is Special Adviser to the Governor on CSDP.