Rt. Hon Benjamin Uwajumogu, the former Speaker of the Imo state House of Assembly, is one former speaker that is highly loved and respected by so many people within and outside Imo state for his humility, simplicity, doggedness, uprightness, large heartedness and for his accomplishments at the state House of Assembly. In certain quarters Ben Uwajumogu is perceived as a man who can give all he has, for the happiness and wellbeing of orders and for the development of his people.
However, with all these godly attributes and without being immodest, the Rt. Hon Benjamin Uwajumogu’s era as the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, that stretched from June 2011 to June 2015 was unique in the annals of history of the state, to the extent that it upped the legislative paradigm of the state, in a way that it can never remain the same again. The air of freshness and peace that engulfed the landscape of the state during his tenure was something that was alien to the state since the inception of civil rule.
A vibrant, visionary and focused parliamentarian, Uwajumogu came to the state Assembly well prepared. Apart from his intellectual sophistication and his determination to clinch the Speakership of the State Assembly; from day one, he sustained the vision of his mission to the parliament which included; providing constructive, credible, virile and courageous opposition; holding the executive accountable to the people through oversight, ensuring quality representation through regular interface with his constituents, and pursuit of better life for the people of Okigwe zone.
Others, however, included; ensuring the delivery of quality and functional education; stemming the tide of fiscal indiscipline evident in public finance management and appropriation and pursuit of legislation and policies geared towards good governance, peace and welfare of Imolites.
No doubt, he was able to accomplish all these through his commitment to regular, vigorous and informed contributions during plenary sessions and executive sessions. He also played leadership roles during these sessions and caucus meetings. This committed approach yielded most of the landmark laws, motion and resolutions that the masses are now enjoying in Imo state today, as well as, the recognition of his led House as the best in the entire Southeast region and the second best in Nigeria by the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMFAC), Abuja.
Of truth, what Imolites no longer remember is that when Uwajumogu’s led House was inaugurated in June 2011, it came face to face to the grim reality on ground. There was massive rot and decay in virtually every sector, especially in the area of infrastructure and security. Kidnappers and armed robbers, turned the state into a crime spot where incidents of crime were reported on daily bases. This was an era when Imo indigenes lived in perpetual fear of being kidnapped or robbed of their valuables and something urgent needed to be done to save the state from complete collapse. A solution had to be found and the state House of Assembly under Rt.Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu quickly stepped in.
Fully aware of the challenges before him, he hinged his policy trust on sacrifice, transparency and accountability, laws and motions targeted towards improving security and peoples wellbeing, investments that will guarantee economic growth and sustain institutions, employment and human capital development and close relationship with order arms of government according to the principal of separation of powers to sustain peace and growth of the state.
From the first plenary session, the Uwajumogu’s led House of Assembly debated extensively on how to quickly revive the ailing fortunes of the state and set it on a high pedestal of development and peace, which by the expiration of their tenure in 2015, the House in keeping faith with the policy trust of speaker Uwajumogu had in spite of economic downturn initiated 236 innovative and laudable people-oriented laws and motions, as well as about 400 resolutions that contributed in redirecting the state to the part of progress, security and peace.
Since we cannot possibly analyze or evaluate the 236 laws and motions enacted by the Uwajumogu’s led House of Assembly in this piece for want of space. Let us at least talk about the Free Education, Kidnap, Four year Imo Rolling Plan, Community Government Council (CGC) , and other life changing laws enacted to give legal teeth to the groundbreaking policies on Free Education, infrastructural renewal, CGC, accountability and security of state.
Evidence today suggest that these enactments have been bearing fruits.it is no longer in doubt that primary and secondary school enrolment has shot through the roof, from little above 250,000 to over 980,000 in the aftermath of the free education law. With increased enrolment also came other salutary conditions, for instance, street begging and hawking involving Imo children of school age has reduced significantly.
The state is also enjoying improved security situations as youths who hitherto had no hope of education and consequently, took to vices has embraced the policy by enrolling into the state owned tertiary institutions without cost. The fact remains that the enactments on education led to social stability and reduced incidences of crime in the state.
Today, the free education law is in top gear sowing good seeds and building the next generation of leaders. Findings across the state indicate that the policy has remained the darling of the masses since the history of the state because of its tendency to touch every household in the state. While you can say that not everybody may go to government hospital or, even use the asphalted roads, everybody certainly needs education. I think that is why education is said to be the biggest industry in the state. Of course, this argument can be corroborated by the dramatic rise in school enrolment in all councils of the state in the aftermath of government’s free education policy.
Another law that has worked wonders like the free education law, but has been ignorantly misconstrued by members of the opposition as a four years budget hand-over to the executive, is the Imo Four Years Rolling Plan. The four years rolling plan in clear term, is an outlined overview of projected revenue and expenses framework, invented by the Uwagumogu’s led Assembly, for the sole purpose of setting up a financial and performance target, as well as, workable benchmarks for the implementation of the annual budget by the executive.
In fashioning this framework, the House never abandoned any specifics as it considered all sub-heads and details and tied over 70 percent of the state’s annual budget on projects. Having worked out this detailed and implementable four year rolling plan, side by side with time lines of execution and realization, next stage which is implementation stage by the executive naturally became quite easy owing to the fact that the Uwajumogu’s led Assembly did a perfect job.
Definitely, this law is an unquantifiable investment for the future of the state. One agency that would readily buy this assertion is the UNESCO, the UN agency that monitors educational development across the globe. According to the body, governments should allocate 26% of annual budget to education if it is to drive development in their societies. No doubt UNESCO never came up with this policy by fluke. A lot of work must have been done before that conclusion was reached. Countries that have made conscious efforts to toe that line have also been reaping the rewards of such decision.
In the case of Imo State, the Uwajumogu’s led House with the support of the executive through the passing and implementation of the four year rolling plan, demonstrated that it was UNESCO benchmark compliant. Education from primary, secondary to tertiary was declared free owing to the free education law and the four year rolling plan of the Uwajumogu’s led Imo Assembly. The construction of the 305 classrooms blocks across 305 wards of the state by the executive was equally made possible by the four year policy plan.
The massive urban renewal, as well as, the rural and urban roads construction was equally captured in the four years rolling plan. Like an analyst said recently; ‘’ even the diehard critic of Uwajumogu cannot but acknowledge the transformation the state witnessed during his tenure, owing to the peaceful atmosphere and enabling laws his tenure produced. There is no denying the fact that Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe witnessed radical alterations in their landscape to the extent that even the blind can see what is going on’’.
Its similar sweet stories from across the councils of the state. There is hardly any local government council that has not taken delivery of a general Hospital and its own 15 kilometer of rural roads. Some like Ngor-Okpala, Owerri North, Ihitte-Uboma, Okigwe and many other local councils, have even overshot their share of 15 kilometers going by the number of roads built.
Another landmark law that performed wonders is the Community Governing Council CGC, Law. Many have hailed it as an innovative approach to governance. The law helped to curb armed robbery and kidnapping in our state as it gave our rural dwellers and its community based leadership the power of decision making on security issues and all other issues relating to their peace and development, as they are now at liberty to prioritize their needs and forward same to government for intervention. A good example of the much talked about bottom to top approach to development, the concept has to a large extent bridged the gap between the rulers and the ruled.
Talking about security, the law on Anti-Kidnapping, that provided capital Punishment for kidnappers, as well as, the immediate destruction and confiscation of properties used for kidnapping activities by the government, also worked magic, by reducing incidents of kidnapping in the state. On the basis of what was achieved by the Uwajumogu’s led House on security, using the anti-kidnapping law and the CGC law as a yards stick, one can boldly say that the state is now a model that should be copied on security issues. Presently, other states and governments that are desirous of practical solutions to their security and kidnaping challenges are now copying, understudying and implementing this Midas formula that was designed by Uwajumogu and his team.
It is an incontrovertible fact, that Uwajumogu’s active and energetic 4 years in the parliament, playing leading roles have earned him vast, intense and matchless experience on parliamentary politics, procedure and administration. To say that this man of great vision has seen it all in parliament is an understatement. In four years, he assiduously worked to expand and deepen the frontiers of legislation in a way and manner, many say, has never been witnessed before in the legislative history of the state.
To be continued next week.
BY EMEKA AHANEKU
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