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| Okezie Ikpeazu |
By Uche Aguoru
An
analytical assessment of the financial accruals into Abia state government’s
accounts between may 29th, 2015 to September 2016. Abia state had recorded a
financial inflow of approximately 52. 693,000,710 billion Naira from the
federal accounts allocation committee (FAAC), and an approximation of the sum
of 18, 283,000,000 billion Naira has been received from the joint accounts
committee (JAC).
A
rough estimate of our Internally generated revenue (IGR) leaves us at
19,349,444,263,72 billion Naira. While it is also an open knowledge that the
Abia state government has received in like sum the amount of 4 billion Naira as
education grant, 1.5 million dollars (675,000,000 six hundred and seventy five
million Naira) as health grants from world health organization. One billion
Naira agricultural loan, 30 billion Naira foreign loan, and the state also
benefitted from the federal government bailout fund of 14.152 billion Naira.
A
computation of all these figures leaves us at a humongous sum of
140,923,000,000 billion and this is an under-reckoning from the actual figure
accrued to the state accounts from the inception of this administration from
May 29th 2015 to September 2016.
One
thing I have come to understand in life and which has become sacrosanct is
that, never at any point in the life of a government or an organization, has it
been recorded, that a government or an organisation has all the money needed to
perform its statutory functions.
Dr.
M.I.Okpara,as the premier of the the Eastern Region,never had petro-dollar when
he built modern ceramics industry,Golden Guinea Breweries,Nigercem Nkalagu,
Anamco in Emene and other cottage industries within his time as premier.
Chief
Sam Onunaka Mbakwe was not dependent on federal allocations,infact it wasn't
just coming when he built the Imo Airport, the International Glass Industry,
Concorde hotel Owerri, Ogwe Golden Chicken, Abia state university, Ariaria
international market etc.
Today,
we are privy to the building of a garment industry described as the largest in
Africa by Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River State, while his Akwaibom state
counterpart has revived Premier Fisheries a state government owned fishing firm
and had also revived the Moribund Akwa Ibom cocoa scheme amongst other
agricultural schemes that has been brought back to life under Udom Emmanuel's
administration, it will amount to trying to place death ahead of life any
attempt made at comparing Anambra under Obiano to Abia under Ikpeazu.
Ebonyi
which has all along received negative knocks from the media and political
analysts are now being placed as second in the South East in administrative
excellence and delivery of democratic dividends to its citizens with the giant
strides of Governor Dave Umahi in the area of agricultural,industrial and
infrastructural revolution in Ebonyi state,
Enugu state whose performance rating in governance dropped under the
Ugwuanyi administration is still far ahead of Abia in payment of salaries,
service delivery to the citizenry, rural infrastructure and human capital
development. while Imo Under Owelle Rochas Okorocha and Abia under Dr. Okezie
Ikpeazu PhD. are struggling for a place in who will outdo each other in the
bottom position.
One
striking fact that every political watcher will have to take home is that all
the South East and South South states here mentioned, receives less allocation
than Abia state except for Akwaibom.
That
Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu has performed abysmally is not as a result of paucity of
funds but what political watchers has described as poverty of ideas, misplaced
priorities, lack of prudence in financial management and excessive engagement
in frivolities rather than essentialism, weak and unclear economic policies,
and laziness in governance and wealth creation etal. Dr Ikpeazu has proved
through his governance style that he lacks the required wisdom to handle the
economic steering wheel of a state like Abia, with the abundance of human and
material deposits domiciled in the state and begging to be harnessed to improve
the economic fortunes of the state. The immediate question on the lips of all
economic followers and analysts has been, what has Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu
PhD. done with all the funds stated above and accrued to the state coffers from
the beginning of the life of this administration till date.
Why
are the teachers being owed for upwards of 6 months and counting? Why are the
pensioners being owed for more than 16 months? Why are workers in the ministries,
agencies and parastatals crying over the inability of the state government to
settle their salaries and wages for more than 6 months? Why is it that council
staff across the 17 LGA,s have not received their salaries for a period of 7
months stating the least? Why are all the roads in Abia practically impassable
despite all the media noise and hype? Why has refuse taken over the streets of
Aba and Umuahia and the people now resort to self help by burning them right
inside the waste buckets to avert a possible outbreak of epidermic? Why is
there no pipe borne water and no budgetary approvals of running it despite the
huge allocations channeled to the ministry of infrastructure and water
resources? Why are schools not being renovated despite processing and receiving
grants to that effect? Why are all the markets in Abia left to rot away despite
the heavy taxation and in most cases double taxation on the traders? Why has
hoodlums,criminals and 419ers taken over the streets of Aba and Umuahia and
nothing is being done to check their nefarious activities, why are the doctors
and nurses in the government owned hospitals always on strike as a result of
governments inability to pay the salaries and allowances of the health workers
and no drugs provided in our hospitals? Why why why and why will only a handful
of politicians and cronies of the governor be living in abundance while the
rest of the citizenry wallow in penury and lack.
Juxtapose
the funds so far received from the federation account, the internal and
external borrowings, the internally generated revenues, and other grants that
the government has received within a period of one year and five months as
against what the administration of Dr. Ikpeazu has done within same period one
cannot help but shudder and marvel in horror as to what will become of the
economic future of Abia state under Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu PhD if the gods at the
temple of justice allow him to take charge of the economic affairs of the state
in the next two years.
Aguoru writes from Umuahia
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