A WELCOME ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, CHIEF IKEDI OHAKIM, GOVERNOR OF IMO STATE, TO ALHAJI UMARU MUSA YAR’ADUA, GCFR, PRESIDENT, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, DURING HIS ONE-DAY VISIT TO IMO STATE TO COMMISSION THE OKIGWE REGIONAL WATER SCHEME ON 21 JAUNARY 2007. Today is a day of exceptional joy for the entire people of Imo state. Mr. President, I therefore believe that I speak the minds of the good people of this state when I say: You are most welcome to our state! You are welcome to the New Face of Imo! Mr. President, you have come to the Eastern Heartland, a state that, not only has a lot in common with you, but has also followed your footsteps in giving our people a new leadership direction. Mr. President, no matter what anyone may say, it is God who, in His mysterious way, elevated you to the presidency of this country. Since then, you have used that God-given opportunity to articulate agenda of reforms and pursue them with humility but without fear. Your leadership style reminds me of the definition of leadership by Warren Bennis, who said “Leadership is the ability to define issues without aggravating the problems”. Through your principle of rule of law, you have gradually repositioned our nation as a land of great possibilities. Through your adherence to rule of law, you have gradually returned power to the people, thus deepening our democracy. As a professed servant-leader, you have shunned hypocrisy and reduced tension in our country; as a consensus builder you have stabilized our polity. These, Mr. President, are attributes we admire and share with you. We in Imo State met a state, although labeled “Land of Hope” was at cross-roads, where it would have fallen into the grips of political vampires. We repackaged it as a land of possibilities and re-branded it the New Face of Imo. Our people fasted and prayed and, as in your case, God intervened and ordained a government of the people for the people. Mr. President, today, Imo is in the hands of God the Almighty. Imo is no longer under the rule of man; it is under the rule of law. Ours is a state full of challenges and opportunities. They told us the challenges we met on assumption were insurmountable. But we said those challenges offered us a golden opportunity to show our leadership mettle. Following your footsteps, we built consensus around our policies. We formed a government that embraced all political interests. Today, our state is stable and peaceful. Mr. President, when we came, we promised to bring happiness to our people. They said it cannot be done. But under the New Face of Imo, we have moved our people away from the old mindset of politics for power aggrandizement that never promoted development. And following your example, we are returning power to the masses of Imo state. We have prepared our state for tourism and private investment. That was why we embarked on the Clean and Green Initiative to make our state a healthy, aesthetic and peaceful place to live and work. Exactly a month ago, we launched our crime-prevention operation code-named Operation Festival to make our state safe for life and property. We also commissioned our Imo Municipal Transport Service, IMTS, to provide our citizens and our visitors, decent and comfortable means of transport. Mr. President, the Okigwe Regional Water Scheme you are about to commission is another milestone in elevating the living standards of our people. The Water Scheme was built in the early 80s, during the late Sam Mbakwe administration, with a capacity of 40 million litres per day. It was planned to supply water to five local governments in Imo, including Okigwe main town, as well as one local government in Abia State. The then government of old Imo State took a foreign facility to build this project. But unfortunately, it not worked for one day since 1980 (27 years ago). The project has consumed a total of N6.2 billion. The Federal Government intervened in 2002 with a contract of N347.1 million and later approved additional N226.3 million. Mr. President, because of how important it was for us to provide water for our people, Imo State government also made substantial financial contributions to facilitate the completion of the rehabilitation. I finally coordinated the final completion of this project. It is a thing of joy that today this Scheme has become a reality. We give thanks to the Federal Government and Glory to God! Mr. President, you declared the rehabilitation of infrastructure, the creation of jobs, comprehensive plan for transportation, and emergency in the energy sector as priority for rapid development. We agree with you. We in Imo State have also pursued the rehabilitation of our dilapidated infrastructure. We have completed 10 roads in Owerri metropolis. Apart from some of the roads you will commission today, we have 21 on-going road contracts. We are dualizing all entries to our capital, Owerri. We have pursued the creation of jobs for our teeming youth through the Clean and Green Initiative, ENTRACO cadets’ scheme, landscaping and beautification of our state, including the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, and Imo Municipal Transport Service. The Imo Job Centre, the first of its kind in Nigeria, has succeeded in finding jobs for 252 graduates. We are radically restructuring our urban transportation system as part of enabling environment for development. We are poised for the most radical restructuring in our local government system to make it play its vital role in the development of our state. Mr. President, we are unsparingly determined to transform Imo state to a modern model state. In seven months, we are proud of our achievements too many to mention here.. We are driven by the fact that Imo people have suffered poverty for too long. We are therefore in a hurry to provide succour. Change always has gainers and losers. Losers will always resist change. But as long as we have God and Imo people on our side, which we do, we shall not be distracted. Mr. President, much as we try, we cannot go it all alone. You have demonstrated this truism by the very fatherly interest you have shown in the progress of our state. Mr. President, since you graciously returned Imo state to the fold of the Coastal States Forum, from which we were most unjustly excluded, we have not had the opportunity to thank you publicly. We, the entire people of Imo state, say: Thank you very much! We thank you most sincerely for caring for us. We shall, however, continue to need the assistance of the Federal Government, especially in those areas that are Federal Government’s responsibilities. Mr. President, there is hardly any Federal presence in this state. All the Federal roads in this state, indeed in this zone, are in terrible shape. Those under construction, like the Onitsha-Owerri Road, have been abandoned. Imo state is worse off in the energy crisis. There is only one transmission line supplying power to this state. This makes the state vulnerable to the slightest disruption. Thus, most of the time, the state is in darkness. This greatly militates against the industrialization of the state. We need urgent Federal Government intervention. Permit me, Mr. President, to plead for the release of all arrears of funds due to the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC. Apart from helping to address the crisis in the Niger Delta region, Imo State, as an NDDC state, will greatly benefit in providing infrastructure and jobs for our people. Mr. President, I want to assure you, on behalf of Imo people, that we support your government 100 percent! We stand behind you and your policies. We support and emulate your principle of rule of law, for without it our nation will fall into the hands of criminals. We support your various reforms because we in Imo state from the beginning of this administration decided on a paradigm shift. We settled for business unusual because the old tendencies did not and will never work for our people. We particularly support your directive reopening investigation into all the unresolved high profile assassinations in our nation. If these crimes are not resolved and the culprits punished, the criminals will continue to prowl the land and haunt our political system. It is particularly important to us in Imo State that criminals do not loom large in our political landscape. Moreover, failure to resolve these assassinations will continue to cast Nigeria in bad light as a violent and lawless nation. Mr. President, we in Imo State will continue to appreciate your kindness to us. We shall continue to relish your interest in our development. We shall continue to count on your partnering with us to develop this part of Nigeria. It is in the spirit of partnership that Imo State Government built and handed over to the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, a Protocol Lounge and a block of Airlines offices at the Sam Mbakwe Airport. It was in the spirit of partnership that we recently donated a 500kva generator to guarantee uninterrupted power supply to the airport. It was in the same spirit that we are landscaping and beautifying the Airport. Our government undertook the repairs of all Federal roads in Imo State before December. We shall continue to look up to you as our inspiration in offering our people leadership with humility, but without fear. We shall continue to strive harder not to disappoint our people. We believe that when next we invite you, you will gladly answer us. We thank you for visiting us. As you go, God will protect and guide you, and members of your entourage. For us in Imo, we are confident that you will very soon come again to commission other milestone projects in our journey of transformation to a modern model state, because we know that Imo is in the hands of God! Thank you, Mr. President. Long Live Imo State. Ikedi Ohakim.
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