By Val Igwebuike.
Imo State is known and recognised as the 'Eastern Heartland'. Apart from Lagos State, which has the political brand name as 'Centre of Excellence', Imo comes as the only other state in the Nigerian federation with an axiomatic political brand nomenclature, depicting the central essence of her geographical relevance - surpassing all other political-geographical enclaves in Nigeria.
There are countless reasons which underscore the naming of Imo state as the Eastern Heartland. These justifications are socio-political as well as sociocultural.
Among other grand reasons, Imo state is primed as the most intellectually sophisticated Political enclave in Nigeria, having the highest number of academic professors in the country.
In 2016 alone, the number of students who sat for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), exams from Imo state was higher than the number of candidates from the entire nineteen states of the north put together. In addition to this praiseworthy landmark, it is also on record that the state tops the chart in the list of states in Nigeria producing the highest number of female candidates for University education in the past thirty years.
These astounding educational achievements of the state are verifiable at both the National University Commission (NUC), and the JAMB offices nationwide.
In regional political standing and administrative size, Imo state is equally enjoying the influence of the state with the highest number of local government area councils in the entire East of the Niger.
Created in 1976, our state was immediately blessed with good political leadership.
An astute administrator and a consummate technocrat was elected as the first civilian governor of Imo State under a decent and rancor-free democratic arrangement.
That impeccable political enigma was Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, of blessed memory. An activist, humanitarian and human right lawyer turned politician, he gave Imo State the best human-oriented political administration ever witnessed in the continent of Africa.
The man, Sam Onunaka Mbakwe, built Imo state in such a way that no son or daughter born of the state would have anything to do with poverty.
To ensure his great and marvelous dreams for Imo state were not dashed at the altar of mere daydreaming and procrastination, that iconic personality established so many industries in the state, borrowing developmental measures that were the visible and unshakable economic pillars of the industrialized countries of Europe, Asia and America.
Mbakwe built Avutu Poultry in Obowo, which had the capacity to employ more than ten thousand workforce, having living quarters, offices and recreational facilities. He built Adapalm in Ohaji and Egbema. Adapalm had all modern machinery for the processing of palm oil, separating the cake and other byproducts; from a special solid byproducts. Adapalm was generating electricity needed for all-round production circle of the industry, and supplying same to the communities hosting the industry.
Adapalm had an employment capacity of fifteen thousand workforce, making Imo the epicenter of integrated palm oil market for West Africa.
Mbakwe maintained the cement industry at Nkalagu, which was established by the old Eastern Nigerian government. Bata Shoe industry was located in Aba to accommodate the employment necessity for that globally identified creative zone of the old Imo state under the Political administration of the Obowo-born political iroko.
As a genius in political administration and economic management, his ability to envisage a prosperous future and the ardent commitment to lay formidable foundation for that desired future, led to building the Rural Electrification Project cited at Amaraku, including host of other economic developmental projects too numerous to mention in this little space.
Our enigmatic political personality, Chief Mbakwe, attracted the establishment of ANAMBRA-IMO-RIVER BASIN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY, a federal parastatal in Owerri, the state capital.
The primary aim for the establishment of this basin by the federal government was to ensure steady availability of abundant agricultural produce for rural and urban dwellers and their markets. It was a special arm of the Water Resources Ministry, particularly established to make Nigerian food consistently surplus and easily affordable by every citizen of the country, living in these three states mentioned above.
To cap it all with excellence and sophistication, which only education can guarantee, Governor Mbakwe built the Imo State University designed and patterned after New York University in the United States. Imo State University was originally built with five University campuses, separately stationed in each of the five geopolitical zones of the old Imo state.
Imo State was solidly founded on the concrete rock of political tranquility, knowledge sophistication and enthusiastic propensity to steady economic buoyancy and assured social security.
All these tremendous positive and all-encompassing achievements were made in just one tenure of four years rule by Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe.
Sadly, more than forty five(45) years down the line, our dear state, Imo is now in near total decay, owing to a plethora of political maladies and near-irredeemable situation of insecurity.
Today, genocidal killing of innocent Imo citizens has become the hobby of our respected big men.
Besides, the fact that embezzlement of public funds is the current signature of politicians and civil servants, brazen stealing and destruction of government property has become the PRIDE of political office holders and their political appointees.
Imo roads that used to be the source of joy to Imolites in the past, are presently death traps.
Adapalm, Avutu Poultry, the Electrification project at Amaraku and host of other state-of-the-art industries patriotically established by Mbakwe forty five years ago, are all in miserable ruin and the locations turned into a squalid forest.
Education as a dependable and reliable hallmark for aggregating economic and political stability has long collapsed in Imo State.
Social security is no longer part of our social contract in the political administration of Imo State and other states in Igbo Land. Unemployment and unbearable economic hardship has taken the place of social comfort in the Eastern Heartland.
The excruciating torments being experienced by Imo citizens are beyond comprehension. Indeed, the current situation appears irredeemable.
But we can not continue this way!
From all known and visible indications, the last hope of ndi Imo rests on their Diaspora technocrats, those Imolites living in the Western nations of Europe, USA, Canada and other advanced Nations of the world.
China is numbered among economically and technologically advanced countries of the world today, simply because their Diaspora technocrats abandoned the comfort of foreign countries and returned to develop their ancestral home.
Today, China is free from political quargmire and economic catastrophe. Many patriotic Diaspora citizens of other countries have had to do same to create habitable homes for their politically frustrated homebased citizens and countries.
It is high time Imo Diaspora technocrats came back home to save Imo State from possible total and irredeemable decimation.
We are calling on you to come. We are begging on behalf of millions of our people, who have been trapped, and are being strangulated by the devastating mayhem currently occasioned by the malaise of reckless political administration in Imo State.
There is an urgent and necessary need to carry out political overhauling from top to bottom for all elective positions in Imo State. We need new people with decent and foreign mentality to occupy all political offices in the state.
This new political administrative beginning must be piloted by Imo Diaspora technocrats.
This is a clarion call by our Imo citizens. This is the wish of Ndi Imo. This is our hope!
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