Governor Ohakim had to take up the gauntlet on the Imo state capital’s refuse palaver which, apparently, was the precursor of his administration’s ‘Clean and Green’ initiative. His belief must have been this: Imo is a state with a high index of population density, an outbreak of any infectious disease in any part of the state can reach any other part of it within a matter of minutes.

Water begets life on earth, water sustains life on earth. Provision of portable water to the governed is a fundamental duty of any responsible government.

During the tenure of the last administration in Imo state, it took concerted efforts to get the federal government bring about the completion of the last stages of the gigantic Okigwe regional water scheme started by the Mbakwe administration. Thereafter, the then state governor, Achike Udenwa, who, perhaps earlier, was not willing to take more than the state and federal governments would want to accommodate in one state at the same time, started at any turn, to emphasise on the need to start the similar water scheme proposed for Orlu by the same Mbakwe administration. From the days of the Sam Mbakwe–led government till the end of the tenure of the Achike Udenwa administration, no administration ever passed in Imo state without the mention and exploration of ways and means for the realisation of the proposed regional water scheme for Orlu.

However, since the Ohakim administration came on board, total silence and inaction  have beclouded the Orlu regional water scheme, and in the absence of running water, water-borne diseases remain the scourge in Orlu and its environs. The late Sam Mbakwe hailed from Obowo but nearly completed the Aba, Umuahia, Owerri and Okigwe regional water schemes before he left office; Achike Udenwa hails from Orlu but worked in concert with others to get the federal government complete the Okigwe regional scheme. Governor Ohakim is expected to emulate the leadership styles of these two ex-leaders in this regard, more so, when his government has its trust on primary health care. Of the five regional water schemes initiated by the Sam Mbakwe administration namely: Aba , Owerri, Umuahia, Okigwe and Orlu, it is only that for Orlu that is yet to be realised, and with the commissioning of the Okigwe regional water scheme early 2008, it was expected that the Ohakim administration would provide for the Orlu regional water scheme in 2009. In the absence of such a provision as is fast unfolding, and given the urgency and priority that ought to have been accorded the matter, Governor Ohakim may risk subjecting himself to be seen as a sectional leader bent on playing politics even at the expense of the lives and property of the people he leads.

It is hard to narrate the scope of Governor Ohakim’s primary health care initiatives in Imo state in the absence of pipe-borne water in nearly all of Orlu senatorial zone. The grief here is that before the Nigerian civil war, pipe-borne water was constantly available in many of these places until the early 1980’s when urbanisation and increasing population rendered the use of existing water bore holes insufficient. Today, a visit to the washrooms of people living in Orlu town and its environs must make a trifle of the ‘Clean and Green’ programme of the Ohakim administration. In today’s Nigeria, you are not likely to find any town the size and status of Orlu without an articulated water supply scheme. Orlu is the second most populated town after Owerri in Imo state, every population chart (birth, death, revenues, etc.) in any office in Imo state attests to this. (The 2004 National Population Commission’s projection of populations of the three major urban areas in the state using 1991as base year is as follows: Owerri Municipal, East and West local government areas put together = 422,879; Orlu local government area =171,274 with a density per square kilometre of 1,107; Okigwe local government area = 109,339 with a density per square kilometre of 323).

The sanitary conditions in Orlu is not improved with the arrival of the rains. Any time it rains, flood waters pour mud and dirt into people’s homes as well as cut off many areas of the town from the rest. Worst hit are many living quarters in the Umuna area of the town that have since been washed away by erosion with as much as two-storey buildings nearly submerged in water and mud. In this area, adjacent to the Saint Joseph Catholic church, the Orlu-Amaraku federal road reconstructed about three years ago is nearly cut into two by erosion. At the onset of the erosion problems in Orlu during the 1980’s, the then military government of Imo state led by Amadi Ikwechegh tried to stop it by awarding a contract for the drainage and asphalt of Orlu township roads to an Israeli construction firm, Techno-Transfer. Half-way on the job, the Imo state government failed to honour its contract agreement with the company which subsequently bolted away. Much of the gutters, asphalt roads, and drainage structures abandoned half-way by the construction firm can still be seen all over the town today. They are being gradually washed away by nature. The non-completion of the drainage work exacerbated the erosion menace in the town and its environs. As the uncompleted structures put in place by that construction firm gradually gets eroded by nature over the years, and in the process washing away billions of Naira of tax payer’s money, they serve as constant reminders of the dismal and dangerous levels politics and the art of governance are fast degenerating in this part of Nigeria.

Governor Ohakim is at the helm of affairs in Imo state today; he is expected to be guarded by the cause of justice in order to redeem the people of Orlu from these water afflictions. Each time he drinks a cup of water, he needs to realise that for the people he governs in the Orlu area, water is a luxury. Therefore, apportioning blames to past administrations in Imo state from that led by the late Sam Mbakwe to the one before his, or searching for excuses to evade the subject of the most basic obligation of any government to its people – provision of efficient source of running water - may be of no use to any body. His actions regarding the subject are rather expected to be guided by the reality on the ground today, that is, the absence of running water in the Orlu area and what it portends for his government and Imo state in general.

Governor Ohakim needs to carry the people of Orlu along in his primary health care initiative by commencing work on the Orlu regional water scheme originally planned to supply portable water to nearly all the local government areas in the zone. Furthermore, he needs not be reminded that when flood waters constantly pour mud and dirt into people’s homes, all talk of “Clean and Green” in Imo state is belittled. His administration cannot afford to have these huge detractions from its much-vaunted primary health care initiative.

Ozoemena Clifford and Anselm Orji

ozoemenachima@yahoo.com

Robot  # 1 | 03.01.2009 06:02

Governor Ohakim needs to carry the people of Orlu along in his primary health care initiative by commencing work on the Orlu regional water scheme originally planned to supply portable water to nearly all the local government areas in the zone. Furthermore, he needs not be reminded that when flood waters constantly pour mud and dirt into people’s homes, all talk of “Clean and Green” in Imo state is belittled. ...Read the full article.

felix  # 2 | 04.01.2009 01:41

Mbakwe was there for fairly one term of jumpy four years, started all the water schemes and completed more than three of them...Ohakim has been there for barely a year and has witnessed the commissioning of one....Achike Udenwa was there for EIGHT SOLID YEARS and completed NONE!!! Mind you Udenwa has his country home at the center of Orlu town! He will drive home in his convoy and buy cows for you guys with bottles of cool odeku to wash the thing down and none of you could hold him responsible for his unprecedented kleptomania for eight years. This petty thief connived with scammers from every corner of the state to loot while sitting on the first Orlus "turn" to lead Imo state, now he is gone you remember Orlu water scheme. Fact of the matter is that you have to send your epistle to Udenwa not Ohakim. When this wired rotational occupation of the government house Owerri started , with the kind of politics being played in Imo state by the likes of Nzeribe, Iwuayanwu and the Acholonus and co, every senatorial zone knew what was in the offing..It goes without saying that Udenwa messed up Orlus time. That man must be the most corrupt public figure ever to walk the face of eastern Nigeria. I just hope that someday he will be made to pay with his gang for the rape they unleashed on Imo states revenue for eight wicked years. But to think that he is Umorus minister of commerce..., obviously the looting is still in progress..

chima Ezike  # 3 | 04.01.2009 15:38

Your conclusion is that if Achike Udenwa could not do the water sheme for Orlu, therefore the people in Orlu can all go and die? If so it is a pity society harbours people that reson this way.

felix  # 4 | 04.01.2009 23:29

=chima Ezike;308677>Your conclusion is that if Achike Udenwa could not do the water sheme for Orlu, therefore the people in Orlu can all go and die? If so it is a pity society harbours people that reson this way. Thanks so much for the well crafted insult! Obviously I deserve that for joining issues with an ebullient sectional upstart like you. Nevertheless, I will explain my position: My conclusion is that since other parts of the state, waited calmly while Orlu ran Imo state for eight solid years, it is too early in a new administration for opinion moulders from Orlu to be crying "marginilastion".Imo state has defined political blocks whose politics once in a while tend to be confrotational and that should be avoided in this dispensation..Ndi Orlu should show some patience with Ohakim as he settles down to governance! Orlu is not the only interest group in Imo state and all these groups are competing for scarce resorces..Dont think you are the only person from Isi Obiukwu gedegwum and coming from Orlu does not mean the truth should not be told! Lets avoid the kind of hostile politricks that nearly destroyed Imo state during the second republic. It was because of this type of trecherous politics between Dee Mbakwe and NPNs Collins Obi that created the situation where Orlu was neglected when the water scheme for the major cities in the then Imo state were being constructed! You are talking about water schemes, has it occured to you that Orlu as a town has no master plan?! What did Udenwa do about this??? And why are people not doing enough to put that dirty thug away??? If folks did not keep quiet and accept crumbs, a terribly corrupt Udenwa would not have become a minister! If he was reported to the EFCC , like the Iboris who I beleive are by far better than him , atleast he would be busy preparing for the next court date and not heading an important ministry in Nigeria at the moment..Yet the writer even mentioned him as an example to be emulated? So if we are from Orlu , we cant say the truth again??? When Udenwa was running down Imo State without doing any tangible thing in Orlu other than biulding stuupid markets, people from that area who should hold him responsible for his inept governance didnt lift a finger. And so he kept awarding contracts to 419 kingpins like Ilomuanya and co and that is the main reason why almost all the few roads he did there have all washed out. If we allowed brigandage because the then occupant of the state house was from "our area" , we lack the moral authority to pontificate now that a "stranger" is in control! The Okigwe and Owerri folks didnt declare war on Orlu people when Udenwa turned governance into a looting expedition. They knew they will have " their turn" and so they waited! Orlu should get a water scheme but the writers idea of praising Udenwas tenure and enjoining Ohakim to emulate him when Udenwa never started nor completed any single water scheme in eaight years is simply nauseating! While on the surface , Imo State is a fairly peacefull state.., it is important to note that politics usually take the sectional tone every now and then...Sectionalism which can lead to violence is the last thing the peace loving people of Imo state need at this time! Members of their political class are selfish and the poor shouldnt be decieved to fight and die for them! And a write -up like ths which tend to create a situation of "we against them" should be discouraged. Lastly, you are at orlu right? Has it occured to you that within his less than two years in office , Ohakim stands on the verge of completing more projects within Orlu senatorial zone than Udenwa an Orlu indigene was able to do in eight years???

chima Ezike  # 5 | 05.01.2009 16:56

Mr. Felix, i think what is at stake is the issue of absence of portable water in Orlu and its surroundings and the debt of the orlu regional water scheme the state government proposed for and owes the area. You don't seem to understand, Governor ohakim is not been attacked or asked to pay from his pocket to provide water for his subjects in Orlu. This is the duty of the Imo state government whether under Dee Mbakwe or Udenwa or Ohakim. The unavailability of running water in an area the size of Orlu and its environs is supposed to be at the front burner of any person of goodwill. Any politician who thinks of tomorrow cannot sweep it under the carpet. I cannot vouch for your 'friend' Udenwa but my inner mind keeps telling me that if he had turned a blind eye to the Okigwe regional water scheme in pursuit of that for Orlu based on your theory of zoning of leaderhip in Imo state, the okigwe water scheme could not have become a reality while his administration lasted. And by the way, you seem to have against practically every famous person in Imo state from the Iwuanyanwus to the Nzeribes to the Acholonus to the Ilomuanyas. Why? You are urged to think good of your brothers and sisters out there for whom good drinking water is luxury. No politics.

felix  # 6 | 06.01.2009 08:18

And by the way, you seem to have against practically every famous person in Imo state from the Iwuanyanwus to the Nzeribes to the Acholonus to the Ilomuanyas. Why? You are urged to think good of your brothers and sisters out there for whom good drinking water is luxury. No politics. Ilomuanya , Nzeribe, Iwuanyanwu and their politics famous? Apocalypse!:hail: Thank you very very much for taking out time to make this earth shattering revelation to me ~When you have not seen the light , how will you get a water scheme???..So why is it that ordinary water supply in Orlu is still a big problem with Imo state brimming with all these your famous pepo??? Ikpo!Ikpo!! Ikpokirikpo!!! Famous ko, Notorious ni?!:rolleyes:

chima Ezike  # 7 | 06.01.2009 10:52

Felix, Famous: you can be famous for good or bad. The problem is you guys' inability to understand that government is a continuous process, what problem any administration fails to embark upon or finish, another inherits and tackles it. That is how the Okigwe water scheme got completed during the last administration in Imo state in the first place. Inventing any excuse to postpone the urgency of water in Orlu can never be a trade mark of any leader who thinks of tomorrow. It borders on criminality so to say.