In Chief Martin Nwancho Elechi, Ebonyi has seen the good and the bad. The good news is that Chief Elechi is a good dreamer. Development as broadly understood- progress towards stable, accountable institutions that can meet the needs of the citizens- in all intents and purposes appears to be his main worry. He is not perturbed by criticisms because he is self-focused.
The bad news, however, is that some of the interpreters of his dreams are either bad willed, inexperienced, stingy, unpatriotic, selfish or combine these vices. The success of any administration lies on the willingness of partners to work as a team with singleness of purpose. But the body languages of some confidantes of the present administration in Ebonyi State by public judgment are in dissonance with the vision of the chief executive. Call them founding fathers, party youths, Exco, contractors or even state BOT, there are many sabotaging Ebonyi collective vision and taking advantage of government’s trust to build private empires.
What is more worrisome is not just the bad will of some of those called to help the administration walk its talk but the palpable helplessness of government to call them to order. It takes the silence of those who should protest for evil men to thrive. Statecraft does not tread on begging. It thrives when force is justly exercised otherwise silence will legitimize the illegitimate. ‘God will repay’ is a church maxim. If we leave our saboteurs to God’s judgment, our vision will develop arthritis and we all will not be alive to see God’s retribution. Statecraft doesn’t tread on God’s vengeance, it holds everybody to account.
Since his assumption of office Chief Elechi has conceived laudable projects that have the capacity to lay foundation for growth for a state struggling with meager federal allocations. For six years now, he has shown himself as a man who never stops dreaming. He dreams of his people’s need. He dreams of laying economic foundation to develop financial base of the state.
Check his dreams: the Ochudo City, the water reticulation projects, the international market, the Unity Bridges, Pilot Schools, the Independent power plant, the cement development projects etc. Were these to be completed according to specifications, Ebonyi would take a giant leap. The exclusion of rice mill clusters and airport development is intentional and personal. While I support relocation of rice mill I cannot give anointing to decentralization of the industry. The airport development was said once and forgotten. Perhaps, government has been advised to give up such grandiose project not because it is bad but to devote more time to other pressing needs. When many in my village still prefer trekking to boarding a car to Abakaliki urban because of cost, building an airport whether of international or local standard has no meaning for them.
Again, completion of these projects is a non-issue here after all, a constructing government hardly completes its projects. Rome they say was not built in a day although this is Nigeria where discontinuity from previous administration is commonplace. Enduring projects have long gestation periods sometimes spanning four administrations. Most of the European monuments took over 100 years to build. There are two issues combining to mar Elechi’s noble dreams. There is delay of jobs. There is poor execution. The accusing fingers point at the capability of the contractors handling the projects. At various times we have been repeatedly told to expect the completion of these projects at a time lag. But the delay of the contractors has killed public enthusiasm and many out of anger have resorted to criticizing the government for being too slow in confronting those aborting its dreams.
The dream of dualizing Onuebonyi-Ishieke axis of Enugu-Ogoja Federal Highway was conceived in good faith because it will and has indeed added beauty to the state capital. It has also decongested the roads and reduced the risk of accidents. The water reticulation project could not have come at a better time than this. It is heart cheering for people who once had to cope with guinea worm scourge. But who will stand on his two feet and beat his chest with pride that these jobs have been satisfactorily half-done? Plying on the newly dualized roads gives an impression of a car in dire need of wheel alignment.
Every day strengthens collective sapping of confidence on Ebonyi contractors. As political spectators, we were inclined to thinking that government was not fulfilling its financial obligation to them warranting the slow pace and lowered standard. But some of the government’s revelation that most of these contractors have been fully and adequately mobilized smacks of intelligence. At the presentation of 2013 appropriation bill, Chief Elechi bemoaned the attitude of contractors handling the international market project. He expressed his sadness on the lack of progressive seriousness on the projects.
Surprisingly, nine months have elapsed and the international market has remained the same. What people see is movement of heavy duty vehicles to and fro the site but the whole place is still flooded. Some roofing sheets are dangling since last year, an indication that no work is going on. The make-shift zink parameter fencings are falling apart and the whole place has all trappings of an abandoned site.
Then the worry! Could it be that government’s hands are tied that there is nothing it can do again? Are these contractors gods living on unapproachable light? Are there no legal grounds to revoke these contracts and force the saboteurs to refund our public naira? The Ogbaga- Nwofe road has been left by a contractor worse than he met it and people are left to swallow revolt that way. If these are Ebonyians, one is wont to ask ‘why do we hate ourselves?’ Until I get some facts clear, I will in subsequent edition excavate those behind urban road maintenance contracts who left rice mill axis of Ogoja road and Nkaliki roads as death traps by heaping trips of gravels there for over two years.
Government needs to demonstrate political will and urgently too by adopting measures that will wake Ebonyi contractors from their slumber. The attitude of contractors has shattered the pride of this administration. When people begin to beg for an end of a regime, you know that something has gone amiss. The general enthusiasm about 2015 sends a wrong signal.
Ebonyi will remain a sad project if Chief Elechi dreams are finally strangled by contractors. Ebonyians will weep because workers have had to contend with home brand salary package just because government says it hasn’t much money to confront its developmental challenges. Many national policies have been redefined to get Ebonyi brand all in a bid to save cost. Yet, these austerities have failed to translate into projects that will subsidize production because of the attitude of saboteurs. It’s simply too bad.
