Imo state has recorded an
exponential jump in its internally generated revenue, moving from N250 million
monthly as at May 2019 to N1billion by December.
Governor Emeka Ihedioha announced
the good news in his new year broadcast to Imolites, in which he also promised to
further block revenue leakages for more income.
“We are focused on an exponential
increase in 2020. Furthermore, this 2020, we will be looking into optimally
deriving benefits from our Oil and Gas endowments – revenues , employment,
wealth creation, sustainable development etc”, he said.
Ihedioha, a former deputy speaker
of the House of Representatives became governor of the eastern Nigerian state
of Imo, on his second attempt, on 29 May, succeeding Senator Rochas Okorocha..
The governor has vowed to chart a
new development path for the state by collaborating with multi-lateral and
donor agencies for projects on water, to erosion control, rural access roads,
healthcare, agriculture and education. He also said his government will invest
in youth training and making the state an ICT hub.
In the new year broadcast, he
said some of his moves are already yielding dividends:
“One of the first actions I took
as Governor was to direct the release of N500million(Five Hundred Million
Naira) counterpart funding in order to activate in the first instance, N9.9
Billion(nine billion, nine hundred million naira) funding for the Urualla
Erosion Control Project in Ideato North LGA from the World Bank NEWMAP
Projects. Similarly, we paid Counterpart funding to catalyse the Rural Access
and Mobility Project (RAMP) valued at N13.5 billion (Thirteen billion, five
hundred million naira) also from the World Bank. Under this programme, works
are ongoing in 88 rural roads projects covering 380.7km of roads, across 26
Local Governments Areas”.
Read his full broadcast:
Umunnem Ndi Imo. On behalf of my
family and the government of Imo State, I am most delighted to bring you our
New Year greetings. We give thanks to Almighty God for bringing us into the New
Year in good health, full of hope again and having faith in a prosperous 2020.
Seven (7) months ago, Gerald
Irona and I took over the reins of leadership as your Deputy Governor and
Governor respectively. We thank you once again for this public mandate vested
in our party, The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the sacred trust bestowed
upon us.
The beginning of the year,
indeed, offers us a great opportunity to renew our promise of complete
dedication to the service of our people and faith in the Almighty God. That was
one of the reasons whyon the 20th of December 2019, we held an
Inter-denominational Imo Day of Thanksgiving, to thank God for His mercies
through the year. It was also time to renew our sacred pledge of fidelity to
our Mission to rebuild, reposition and transform Imo State into a modern
ecosystem.
Year 2020 is the famed year of
possibilities. Metaphorically, 2020 also symbolizes complete vision. Here in
Imo State, our vision for the future is very clear and we believe that all
these possibilities are still attainable. I say so because, we have the
determination of a committed Executive Team, the partnership of a collaborative
Legislature, the wisdom of an independent Judiciary and the heart-warming
support of an enlightened, God-fearing and hardworking people.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PAST
SEVEN MONTHS.
By your prayers support and
partnership, the last seven months have been both a period of liberation and
that of laying the foundation for effective take-off. Our collective
accomplishments in pursuit of the Rebuild Imo Agenda imbue us with a very
strong faith in a positive and prosperous future.
Our harmonious working
relationship with the Legislature has resulted in an unprecedented record
breaking 18 Bills passed and signed into Law since we were sworn-in. This is an
enviable milestone by any standards.
Government has also established
strong links to multilateral development partners and we are attracting
donor-agencies fund for programs to virtually all sectors ranging from water
projects to erosion control, rural access roads, healthcare, agriculture and
education.
In keeping with this promise, one
of the first actions I took as Governor was to direct the release of
N500million(Five Hundred Million Naira) counterpart funding in order to
activate in the first instance, N9.9 Billion(nine billion, nine hundred million
naira) funding for the Urualla Erosion Control Project in Ideato North LGA from
the World Bank NEWMAP Projects. Similarly, we paid Counterpart funding to
catalyse the Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) valued at N13.5 billion
(Thirteen billion, five hundred million naira) also from the World Bank. Under
this programme, works are ongoing in 88 rural roads projects covering 380.7km
of roads, across 26 Local Governments Areas.
In our campaigns, and indeed upon
assumption of Office, we undertook to reposition our Local Governments to
become strong centres of effective grassroot governance. In furtherance to
this, we have restored their financial autonomy resulting in their receiving
fundallocations directly, and in full too.
Under our constitutional
oversight, all the Local Governments are constructing new secretariat complexes
to provide conducive working environment for workers. For social amenities and
youth development, we are partnering with the Local Governments also to
construct mini-stadia or upgrade existing ones. I am glad to say that only a
few days ago, I commissioned the Ultra-Modern Local Government Secretariat
Complex at Ahiazu Mbaise, The first among those projects to be completed.
I have severally stressed that to
fund meaningful development, we cannot depend on monthly Federal allocations.
Not only are these funds static, they are subject to deductions emanating from
our past debts and refund on bailout funds received. In any case, we currently
spend about 73% of these allocations on salaries and pensions leaving us with
barely nothing for other myriads of challenges confronting us. It became
imperative therefore that we had to strengthen our IGR mechanisms. We are very
delighted to note that from about N250m(Two Hundred and Fifty Million
naira)that we met on ground monthly, IGR has risen to over One (1) billion in
the month of December2019. We are focused on an exponential increase in 2020.
Furthermore, this 2020, we will be looking into optimally deriving benefits
from our Oil and Gas endowments – revenues , employment, wealth creation,
sustainable development etc.
I assure you that Imo is OPEN FOR
BUSINESS. Our dedicated ‘ease of doing business’ desk is there to address
bottlenecks potential investors may face. Our efforts are gradually yielding
results. Only recently, we allocated land in Owerri to AfrExim Bank, to build
its quality assurance facility for the South-East and South-South zones. The
facility is estimated to cost over $50million (N18Billion) and would surely
boost our economy and commercial profile. Currently, 6 airlines are now
operating in the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, a clear indication of
the rising investor confidence in Imo State.
Human Capital Development remains
our fulcrum in the “Rebuild Imo” Agenda. Therefore, training our people is thus
our focus. In 2019, we trained over 6000 teachers, while this year would
witness massive training and retraining of our teachers in different skills for
managing 21st century teaching skills.Government has also approved funds needed
for re-accreditation of all courses in Imo Polytechnic Umuagwo which were lost
during the decay of the last eight years.In addition, we have made the study of
Igbo Language now mandatory for all students in both public and private
secondary schools in Imo State.
In pursuit of Food
self-sufficiency, as well as harnessing commercial advantage, Agriculture is
our priority. We have trained over 600 Imo youths under our Youth-in-Agriculture
programme and would be advancing loans to interested applicants among them to
start their own agribusiness.
We are poised to bridging the
huge infrastructural deficit that we met on ground, we have about 30 on-going
road construction projects distributed all around the State. These projects are
quickly changing the transportation landscape of the State. I regret the
temporary inconvenience these construction activities have caused our citizens
this festive period. It is however, a worthwhile sacrifice as we shall in
return inherit a durable and well-constructed road network in the state.
To compliment this, we are
pursuing an aggressive housing development programme. Just last month, we
performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a 1000 Housing Unit Rebuild Imo
Estate in Azara-Owalla in Emekuku, Owerri North under a
Public-Private-Partnership arrangement. In addition to this, we will develop
Satellite Housing estates serviced with infrastructure State-wide to decongest
the capital city and stimulate rural development.
In the area of public financial
management, government has implemented strategic reforms through the Treasury
Single Account (TSA) thereby stemming revenue leakages, and closing up the
multiplicity of over 260 different accounts in operation before we came to
office. In the same vein, we adopted the International Public Sector Accounting
Standards (IPSAS). Our reforms have strengthened the implementation of the
State Public Procurement Law, commenced the implementation of Due Process,
transparency, accountability and value for money in the award of State and
Local Government contracts.
Dear Imolites, it is gladdening
to note that the world is watching and our humble efforts have attracted both
global and national recognition. Recently, the National Bureau of Statistics
(NBS), rated Imo State as the Least Corrupt State in their 2nd Corruption
Survey, while we were also appraised the Best Overall Performing State in ICT
Development by the National Council on Communication and Digital Economy. Similarly,
Businessday Newspapers, Nigeria’s leading economic journal ranked our State as
the fastest growing economy in Nigeria in 2019.
I would like to reiterate that we
are conscious of the huge challenge posed by these sterling ratings, the
expectations that come with it,and are making conscious efforts to sustainthis
positive national and global public opinion.
MISSION FOR 2020
The path of the just, the Bible
says, is like the shining light, that shineth brighter and brighter unto a
perfect day. This shall be the path of the Rebuild Imo journey.
3.2 Proper planning is based on
empirical projections and prudent management of funds is vital for meaningful
development. A viable budget is the basis for fiscal responsibility. On the
27th of December 2019, I signed into law the Imo 2020 Appropriation Bill
signalling that the fiscal year will begin today, 1st of January 2020 as
envisaged. We will keep faith with this instrument.
3.3 Many of the contracts we
awarded for infrastructural development shall continue with zest to achieve
their completion timelines.We shall also take on more projects that would make
a greater impact in our developmental endeavours. To ensure sustenance of our
road projects, we will revive the Road Maintenance Agency. We shall also vigorously
pursue the rehabilitation, re-mobilization and reconstruction of the Onitsha
Road Industrial Layout.
We shall intensify our efforts in
our promotion of investment and industrialization to bolster economic
development in the State and create jobs. The Bureau of Trade and Investment is
currently conducting a verification process of Local and foreign companies that
are ready to invest in Imo State. It is also developing specialized market
clusters across the State to create competitive advantages for the improvement
of business climate in the State.
We shall work to leverage our
strategic position as the confluence state in the old Eastern Region, to
transform into the preferred tourist and conference destination in the region.
Consequently, works are ongoing to partner with our rich hospitality industry
to harness our potentials. In like manner, the Ahiajoku Lectures is back,
revived and shall get better in the coming years. Similarly, our tourist
resorts like the Oguta Lake Resort would be upgraded this year.
Government shall pay adequate
attention to ensuring access to basic necessities of life and protection for
vulnerable groups, including People Living with Disabilities. In addition, we
shall work to domesticate the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Act in
Imo. We are also looking at working with development partners and civil society
groups to establish Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARC).
You would recall that in my
inaugural address, I specifically declared technical and vocational education
(TVET) as a major pillar of our educational transformation programme. To this
effect, we are investing more than N4Billion (Four Billion Naira) in the
reconstruction, physical upgrade and curriculum improvement at the four premier
technical colleges in the State. We have set a target for ourselves to have
over 70 percent of theseTVET graduates to get jobs, be self-employed, or
advance to tertiary institutions for Higher National Diplomas or Degrees.
Information Technology (IT) is
like they say, the new “Oil “. Imo is leading the way in technological
development with a view to making the State an IT hub. We have facilitated IT
Tech Incubation centres, trained our women & youths, and are attracting the
big names in Tech such as Google, MTN etc. in partnership as well as
operations.
As the new decade beckons and the
march to the 4th Industrial Revolution nears, the teaching of Artificial
Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning and Data Science would constitute a core of
the curriculum of our schools. This is pursuant to our stated policy of
inculcating in our young ones globally competitive skills and preparing them
for the 21st century workforce. We reaffirm that we will continue to deploy ICT
in our governance processes.
Information Technology will also
be the platform that we will use to sanitize our previously abused land
administration and allocation system. The newly constituted Land Use Allocation
Committee (LUAC) will work within a framework of a digitalized geographic
information system that we are in the process of procuring. This will further
provide geo-spatial data for agricultural,environmental and transportation
challenges.
My good people of Imo State. We
are making our civil service work again. Government shall sustain salary
payments in full and create necessary incentives to promote productivity. All
the Commissions of Enquiry we set up wouldsoon be submitting their reports and
Government shall implementtheir valuable recommendations for the sanity of our
institutions and the good of our people. Similarly, the Visitation Panels on
our tertiary institutions would equally be submitting their reports and we
shall be surefooted in repositioning our institutions of higher learning for
better results.
In agriculture, we are looking to
substantially reduce our dependence on food imports. We have set a target of
planting 4 Million oil palm seedlings in the coming years. Consequently, we
look to plant One (1) million this year. Our rice Mills in Ihitte/Uboma would
be expanded and the Arondizuogu Mills would be revived.
In the Health Sector, I am glad
to inform you that significant provisions have been made towards improving the
health of all Imolites in the 2020 Budget. Our areas of emphases shall include;
programmes against childhood malnutrition and reduction of maternal and infant
mortality rates to its barest minimum.
Government shall renovate,
re-equip and re-staff Primary Health Centres in all the Local Government Areas,
in line with the national objective of achieving Universal Health Coverage. We
shall also upgrade one general hospital in each zone to the status of a
specialist hospital in specified areas of medical proficiency. Government shall
also ensure effective operation and reach of the re-invigorated Imo State
Health Insurance Scheme.
Let me please state that we have
declared zero tolerance to all forms of stigma and discrimination against
Persons Living with the Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV). The State, in
collaboration with donor agencies will support the procurement of all the
necessary kits and consumables in a concerted push for HIV/AIDS epidemic
control, tagged HIV ART Surge.I personally have agreed to be the mascot and
face of the Campaign to eliminate stigma and reduce prevalence rate. Members of
the expanded State Executive Council have all agreed to join in this crusade.
This year, Owerri would return to
its eminent status as the cleanest city in Nigeria. In this regard, we will
further institutionalize our “ Go Green, Stay Clean “ Initiative, and mobilize
the entire state for the planting of about 100,000 trees.
Imo State would take its pride of
place as the home of sports, as our repair and rehabilitation works in all our
sports institutions and stadia would be completed this year. The indomitable
Grasshoppers Women Handball Club of Owerri, is up and running again. These Imo
State born African Amazons have qualified to represent Nigeria in the 30th
edition of the African Club Championships scheduled for Algeria in April 2020.
Similarly, our volleyball team, the Heartland Spikers have qualified to
represent Nigeria in an International tournament in Morocco next year.
We would be gallantly
participating in the 2020 National Sports Festival scheduled for March this
year. In addition, after consideration of the immense benefits derivable from
sports, Imo State would be bidding for the rights to host the 2022 edition.
We shall sustain our efforts at
mobilizing Diaspora participation in the Rebuild Imo Agenda. Our Diaspora
Summit has been scheduled for January 3, 2020. By this we are providing a
veritable platform for Diaspora participation in critical sectors in the
efforts of government to rebuild, reposition and transform the state.
Another area of major attention
shall be youths. In the passing year, we commenced a process of data capture of
all youths in the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo State, we hope that this
would be concluded soon.We shall embark on Youth employment programs,
especially, the One-youth-one skill program with a target of generating direct
and indirect employment for 500,000 youths.To pilot this, we have just set up,
by law, an Imo State Employment Trust Fund to serve as a foundation for
supporting youth empowerment.
This government understands the
critical role of genuine data and statistics in the planning and developmental
process. Consequently, upon assumption of office, we revamped the statistics
department and upgraded it to the level of a bureau, known as The Imo State
Bureau of Statistics.
APPEAL FOR PEOPLE PARTNERSHIP.
My dear brothers and sisters, I
am sure by now we have been askingourselves, what is our place in all
these?What must we do, to bring about a realization of these noble programmes
and projects? The answer is simple,arenaissance of spirit and our collective
partnership.
For instance, I earlier talked
about Government IGR targetto meet up with the infrastructural development we
have projected in the 2020 Budget. As we are aware, all over the world,
governments are run from taxes paid by the citizens. As citizens and residents
of Imo therefore, we should observe our civic obligations by paying our taxes
as and when due.
On our part, we restate our
solemn pledge to account for very Kobo Imolites pay and to bring it to bear on
the quality of our infrastructure and improved living standards. Imo State is a
blessed State. We will harness our strategic location, rich human capital and
abundant natural resources for the greater good of our people. We are not abuja
(the Federal Capital Territory). We are not Lagos (the commercial capital). We
are not Port Harcourt, Rivers State (the oil capital), but we are Ndi Imo, a
people known for industry and excellence.
You are also called to
participate in our joint efforts to keep our environments clean always. We must
be law abiding citizens and indeed have a re-orientation of values. Citizens
should join hands to undertake community and neighbourhood development
projects. Let us form an unbroken chain of support to the Operation Iron Gate
security network by remaining alert in our neighbourhoods.
To our women folk, we truly
appreciate you. I was excited by your zest and eagerness to contribute to this
rebuilding effort typified by your participation in the last Imo Women’s Day.
We will intensify our efforts to mobilize your beneficial involvement in the
social, political and economic activities in the State.
Umunnem, let us also pray for the
peace and prosperity of Imo State and work for its progress.
Today, we have an airport which
is like the crowning jewel of our State. Many of us went through pains to make
the contributions then, but today, we look back rejoicing for the harvest of an
airport that has become a leader among many others.
In the same spirit we shall arise
and build, so that when tomorrow comes, we shall look back in pride and
satisfaction that we heeded the clarion call to the Rebuild Imo Agenda.
I must stress that I am impressed
thusfar by the show of goodwill by Imolites to our administration. I am also
excited by their willingness to partner and support us as we rebuild the state
from the ruins of the past. Moving around the State this festive period, I have
seen a highly spirited people, eager and resolved to move the State forward. On
the 26th of December, 2019, we held a stakeholders luncheon at which our people
committed further to the rebuilding task. This, in no small way, strengthens my
resolve.
Ndi Imo, Ndi Oma, I wish you all
a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year.
Long Live Imo State,Long live,
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Imo wunkeanyinile!!!
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users