Abia’s 100 Days of Labour Pain (Part 1)
Labour pain is a spontaneous moment of torment for a lady. It is inexplicable. But watching a pregnant woman saunter aimlessly, screeching, urinating and sporadically defecating on her body defines the severity.
When caught in the web of labour pain, a woman becomes disoriented, especially in the care of a confused obstetrician.
The above characterised the Abia State’s circumstance in 100 days under the watch of an obstetrician who appeared lost and perplexed on the fitting methodology and suppository to halt the chaos.
The perplexity becomes embarrassing, especially when the physician brags about his extraordinary expertise or magic wand to resuscitate a patient in a coma.
Before his emergence, Governor Alex Otti repeatedly described Abia as a state in a coma. In several of his interviews, he wore the façade of a man with a readymade elixir for Abia State malaise.
But, events have punctured the credence. If juxtaposed, the achievements of some governors sworn in the same day as Otti made his pedestrian, soul-destroying and desultory.
For instance, while Dr. Otti failed to mention a single policy statement of his administration in his inaugural speech, his Rivers State counterpart, Governor Siminalayi Fubara, said he would consolidate and continue the new Rivers Vision by committing to sustaining the momentum of development set by Nyesom Wike.
On July 17, 2023, Fubara flagged off the 50.15KM dual carriage Port Harcourt Ring Road project worth N200 billion as a legacy project of his administration. He said the road will connect six LGAs. The governor noted that the objective is to expand and decongest the city of Port Harcourt.
Then, in his 100 days in office speech, Fubara said some of the projects commissioning were inherited from his predecessor, while his government initiated the rest.
Even in his criticism of the governor over the amount quoted, the APC State Publicity Secretary, Darlington Nwauju, commended him for giving the state secretariat complex a facelift within his first 100 days in office.
The APC spokesperson also did not query the governor’s free WAEC/NECO policy but rejected the claim that it achieved 100 per cent success because they have evidence of some school principals extorting parents.
Amid the criticisms, Fubara also flagged off a health insurance scheme, covered by equity funding and subsidy, to provide a platform for persons who cannot pay for health services.
One takeaway from the health scheme flagged off to mark his 100 days in office was that it commiserates with the governor’s vision to improve the quality and affordable health care in Rivers.
Then, in Enugu State, Governor Peter Mbah, in his first EXCO meeting, announced his government’s decision to commence the construction of 81 roads, 71 in the Enugu metropolis and ten others to connect every part of the state.
The government said the 71 roads cut across Trans Ekulu, Abakpa, Emene, Awkunanaw, Coal Camp, Asata, New Layout, Achara Layout and Idaw River. The government said it spread the ten other roads across the three senatorial zones.
The Enugu governor said the ten roads are major roads linking the various LGAs, such as the Enugu-Ugwogo Nike-Opi-Nsukka road and GRA – Trans Ekulu road, that his government will transform into a dual-carriage because of the heavy traffic on them.
The governor also said his administration would build flyovers at Abakpa Junction and Chris Chemist/Old Park Junction area to decongest the heavy morning traffic.
The Rivers and Enugu governors examples underscore infrastructural development and economic policy statements, which have been non-existent for more than 100 days in office of the Otti-led government.
READ PART 1 HERE.
Don Norman Obinna is the Abia State Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). He’s also the publisher of ‘Raped and Enslaved: Era of Kleptocracy’ which is available as an ebook. Click the link below to read a copy.
