Ngor-Okpala: Owelle Rochas on Course to Make Good his Promise
By Nwaorgu Faustinus
Prior to the 2011 general elections in Nigeria and during his touring of Ngor-Okpala as part of his campaign strategy, the current governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha noted with dismay the poor nature of the council road among other roads and promised to fix it once voted and elected as the governor of the Eastern Heartland. Many saw the promise as one of the millions of promise made by politicians in this part of the world that remains unfilled.
True to his promise, governor owelle rochas administration has commenced the construction of the road that runs from Umukabia to the Local Government Council located at Umuneke Ngor. While the people from the area commend him for this among other good plans he has for the council area given his philanthropic disposition and the remarkable, prominent and praiseworthy role majority of electorates from Ngor-Okpala played to put him in the Douglas House (State Government House) where he is today, he should ensure that the construction company handling the construction of the road delivers on target. It is important to observe here that it is one thing to commence the construction of road and another to complete it while adhering strictly to time, standards and specification. This observation is based on previous attempt made to construct the road by past administration but was abandoned.
Just like Oliver Twist, it is important to draw the attention of the governor to the road that runs from Umuneke Ngor, Umueme, and part of Umuakiri/Umuche Elelem and Obioma Community formerly Obike with a view to completing it as it was abandoned by past administration before it could get to the boundary between Umundoche obike, a village in Ngor-Okpala and Ndashi, a community in Etche Local Government of Rivers State.
It is imperative for Ngor-Okpala people to give the current administration in Imo State led by Governor Rochas Okorocha the benefit of doubt by supporting it not minding many pull him down articles orchestrated by enemies of the state and the opposition as he is poised to rescue Imo. My appeal for support for the governor is not informed by any financial inducement but by what the present administration was able to do which seemed impossible to many especially in the education sector. The current free education being enjoyed by both public primary and secondary school students is not only laudable but also unprecedented.
One John I Mgbe in his article entitled “A peep into Gov. Okorochas First 100 days wrote: “In his FIRST 100 DAYS, Rochas Okorochas has made good his promise that after the elections, the Egyptians you saw yesterday, you will see them no more. He has also commenced his free education scheme in line with his campaign manifesto. Before now, nobody knew that it would be possible to actualize a free education scheme in Imo State. This free education scheme is the most important political development in Imo State since the return of party politics on 1st October; 1999.It is a big relief to various families who see this scheme as a big source of disposable income to the family budget. Rochas Okorocha’s free education scheme to the Senior Secondary School level has superseded the requirement of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) Scheme which stipulates that education should be free and compulsory for the first 9 years (i.e. from primary to JSS3). Under the UBE Scheme, there is no obligation on any government in Nigeria to offer free education to the Senior Secondary School level; what Okorocha has done in extending his free education to the secondary school level is a bonus, a value added gesture which some ungrateful and perfidious elements have failed to acknowledge. The money being used to run the free education scheme today is money which some corrupt and fraudulent politicians were sharing among themselves in the past. Today, it is a windfall which is a disposable income to the IMO State economy. I did not know that free education could be actualized in Imo State in the foreseeable future. We were simply brainwashed to have a mindset that Imo was so poverty-stricken to venture into free education. At the tertiary level, education has become accessible and affordable in line with Okorocha’s campaign promises. In this State, Governor Ohakim set up a panel headed by a former vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Professor T.O.C. Ndubuizu, which recommended N150, 000 as the school fees in Imo State University. Ohakim was a wily guy who knew how to use people of integrity to achieve his ignoble goals. He quickly distanced himself from the panel when Owelle Okorocha and Senator Ararume started making comments on free education and affordable and accessible education at the secondary and tertiary levels respectively. If Okorocha did not succeed, most of those in the state school system, especially IMSU, would have pulled out on the grounds of financial constraints.
In the same vein, a brand new institution: IMO College for Advanced Professional Studies (ICAPS) is being built on the site of the former premises of Statesman Newspapers. Unlike the former Imo Job Centre which was a safe haven for defrauding jobless youths, ICAPS is a centre for producing professionals in different walks of life. In the same vein, Government has released the huge amount of N100ml to each of the 27 Local Government Areas in Imo State for the purpose of upgrading the deteriorating facilities in the primary and secondary school levels. The budget for this project is N2.7bn. The administration has also embarked on the building of 12 model classrooms in each of the 305 INEC wards in Imo State. Each of the 12- room blocks will gulp N30ml. The schools will be equipped with model laboratories, computers, libraries and related learning aids. A state of the art Young Scientists School is under construction at the former premises of Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC).The school is targeted at those students who are naturally endowed to excel in the sciences. Construction work on the ICAPS and the Young Scientists’ School is progressing at a frenetic speed”.
With these positive actions among others yet to come, I have no doubt that the rochas Okorochas’ led administration is determined to save not only Ngor-okpala but also Imo State in general. I pray that the road you have started building in Ngor-Okpala will not be the last. God bless Imo State.
Nwaorgu Faustinus writes from Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt,Rivers State. Mobile: +2348035601312.Email:ngorokpalaresearcher@gmail.com or ngorokpalaresearcher@yahoo.com