Opinion: End Of Familtocracy: The Task Before The New Governor Of Imo State-Hon Emeka Ihedioha By – CHIMA J. KORIEH, PhD
The 2019 elections in Nigeria have come and gone, at least as it relates to the initial declaration of the result by the INEC. Its most important impact in Imo State will be the end of what I have termed: “Familtocracy.” It is a system of government run by a family and for the family. This has been the system of government in Imo State in the past 8 years. There is no equivalent in the application of this theory of government anywhere else in modern Nigeria. On a more fundamental level, it is the most extreme negation of the basic principles of democracy. So, the incoming administration will face a huge task.
Imo State today is very backward. This should not be the case. The post-Mbakwe era has seen no attempt to develop the industrial potentials of the state or create any form of employment beyond an inefficient civil service sector. Nothing has happened in the state than the creation of a hotel-prostitution based economy. The other sector of significant growth is the development of private primary and secondary schools often established by profit-driven entrepreneurs who have neither the training nor skills required to runs an educational institution. For many, the establishment of private schools is one other lucrative business venture. And for the state government, it is one other source of generating internal revenue. Yet, the state gives no form of support to the private sector for providing the much-needed educational infrastructure in the state. The world over, and even during the colonial period, private educational institutions are supported by the government because they provide essential services, create employment, and supplement government investment in the educational sector.
The first task facing the new administration, however, is that of restoring confidence in the people with the philosophy that the basic premise upon which a government operates is for the public good. The second major task is rebuilding a bureaucracy that has been destroyed and shattered by charlatans who are driven and motivated by nothing but excessive greed and looting of the common wealth of the state and communities around Owerri. For the past 8 years, Imo State has been like an asylum run by lunatics. Under this condition, the Imo State government abrogated its fundamental obligation to be an active player in the affairs of the people and shape how they may live, work and benefit from the society.
Despotism and kleptocracy have been the biggest obstacle to any meaningful advancement in Imo State in the past 8 years. The neglect of due process and the slaughter of meritocracy on the altar of extreme naivetés has dragged the state a decade backwards. Personality clashes have played their part, with the frequent changes in leadership, especially the deputy governors of the state. These struggles for control at times have descended into undignified sniping and open hostility, creating conditions that challenged the synergy that ought to exist within a well-oiled administrative machinery or government.
The greatest evil and immoral act committed by the Okorocha administration is the turning of the state into a family empire. The governor, his wife, children, brothers, sisters, in-laws were used as effective instruments of extraction of the state’s wealth. So much has been stolen from the state and its people. Landed properties that were legally acquired by tax payers in the state have been revoked and re-allocated to family members and friends. Clearly, the struggle by Rochas Okorocha and his family to continue to govern the state after 8 years of darkness over light, is a bid to protect what they have stolen. The government has the statutory authority to reverse these actions and restore these properties to their rightful owners and some as public property. This is not only morally right but will be a warning sign to future political leaders that oha ka—the community is supreme.
The most critical area facing the new administration, like any other new administration is the task of setting up an administration made of people with the skills and competencies that will help in advancing the programmes of the government. I am an Mbaise person. But this should not be the government for and by Mbaise alone. This is what led to the revolt against Rochas Okorocha. Hon Ihedioha should resist the temptation and the obvious pressure that will come from certain quarters to run an administration that is not inclusive of all the regions of Imo State. The last election is a clear example of the capacity of the electorate to initiate change and perfect that change through the ballot box. The governor should be guided by the simple creeds of equity and fairness. He should seek the critical minds that will add value to his administration and move the state out of the current backwardness and underdevelopment. The current transition team recently created by the governor-elect is an assembly of technocrats and functionaries that could provide the road map to the formulation of economic policies that will determine the near and long-term prospects of the state’s economy.
The actions of the Okorocha administration in Imo State made mockery of the separation of powers between the three branches of government—the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. This is the basic principle upon which any democracy operates and survives. The history of governance in Imo State in the past 8 years made absolute mockery of this basic ternate of democracy, especially the presidential system, which Nigeria purports to operate. Compare the Nigerian experience with the American one, where respect for the law and judicial decisions is the bedrock of American democracy. As powerful as the President of the United States or the Governor of its constituent states might be, judicial decisions are sacred and are respected. This is what has guaranteed the trust in the system for the average American. The experience is Imo State and indeed the county as whole is one where the executive branch ignores the court and judicial decisions and in which the courts have been overtly and covertly dragged into politics. Respect for the law and the court is fundamental to the survival of our democracy and the rule of law.
The level of infrastructure in the state remains very poor. Road and public buildings were poorly constructed. In fact, the usual reference to roads in Imo State as “China Road” to describe their poor quality is very apt. You cannot put square pegs in round holes and expect them to fit. The emergence of overnight construction engineers most of whom are related to the governor explains the poor-quality constructions of project and lack of accountability.
Attention has to be drawn to the only major state institution of higher education in the state—the Imo State University. Imo State University has faced major challenges since its relocation to Imo State. One of the most blatant disregards for quality of education and the development of a university system that can compete with its counterparts all over the world was under the administration of Okorocha when a seasoned university administrator and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Aloy Ukachukwu Awuzie was removed in a bid to control the university from the government house. This was the climax of many structural and administrative problems that have confronted the University from 2008 when the Chief Ohakim government set up a Visitation Panel into the affairs of the University. The panel summitted its reports and the bulk of its recommendations were reversed by Governor Okorocha based on familial and political considerations.
Today, the Imo State University is a glorified high school, where degrees in some cases are awarded to the highest bidder and promotion of faculty to the exhausted position of professor are in some cases conferred on the faculty who have no significant publication records or known beyond the confines of Imo State University. The new government needs to restore the dignity of Imo State University as an institution of higher education. We cannot wish this problem away. While many programs at IMSU have remained competitive, many products of the institution are not employable or well prepared for graduate school. I know because I have interviewed them as an employer and supervised some for higher degrees. The state is better off if the university and other institutions of higher education in the state are run by competent administrators. This is the only way the state and the products of its educational institutions can be competitive at the national and global levels.
Small-scale industrial development and job creation is fundamental to the advancement of the state. The state should aim at creating employment beyond the civil service. Most of the employment outside the public service are mostly low-paying employments in the hospitality industry and the educational sector. The state can tap into the Owerri-Aba-Umuahia corridor to establish small scale industries that can cater to the massive population in this zone. Food processing and agro-based industries that can support the hospitality and hotel sector in Owerri can create good wage jobs while relying on local resources. This should be a new dawn for Imo State
Chima J. Korieh is Professor of History and Africana Studies
