A shout-out to Sullivan (1)
An open memo to the next Governor of Enugu State (1)
M. O. EnE
New Jersey, USA
egbedaa@aol.com
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Your Excellency-in-waiting:
Ndeewo! (Greetings!)
Congratulations on emerging as the PDP flag-bearer for the April 2007 Enugu State gubernatorial elections. The Ebeano political platform on which you stand is indeed a strong, solid structure. I am therefore assuming, based on prevailing political permutations, that you will be elected governor by the good people of Enugu State. Caution: You must not take this private postulation to the bank as fait accompli; no one sleeps with a speck in his or her eyes. With steady hands, however, and the continued support of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, you can steer the ship across the battlefields to a befitting berth.
Good luck and God bless.
EBE ANYI NO (Where we are):
If events pan out as assumed above,
you will inherit a state that is generally acclaimed to be working, but there is
always room for improvement. In fact, there are plenty of rooms for improvement
because, even in so-called “developed nations,” governments still articulate
further developmental policies. Of course, we know that Nigeria is not yet near
to being considered in the league of “developed nations.” In four years, you
cannot do it all; no one can. I will advise you to focus on policies and
programs that will engender good governance and deliver dividends of democracy
to all our peoples.
Your perceptible predecessor, the incumbent Governor, has accomplished the much he could deliver in nearly eight years. As an active participant in his administration, his successes and slips should guard and guide your approach from day one. One major achievement, contrary to what many might think, is the establishment of development councils as subunits of the flawed federal-stipulated local government areas. In a piece titled “Ebeanaeje: 2007 and beyond,” I elaborated on an avant-garde approach that will improve on the development councils, thereby taking functional governance to all our communities.
With the paradigm shift in local governance, your administration will focus on the improvement of the lives of ALL Enugu State communities, irrespective of how they voted and for whom they voted. I emphasize “all” because from whence the governor hails in Enugu State should no longer be an issue. An evenhanded enabling of all our peoples will take the sting off the clamor for any candidates from one’s neck of the Waawalandian woods... as if they are the best of the rest; rather, the clamor should be about getting the best of all. In other words, your single goal should be “Improving Quality of Life”—Iwenite usoro ezi ndu.
Note: You do not have to promise any of the recommendations in this piece on your campaign trails; just keep them in view and try not to promise the impossible: political promises have a way of coming back to haunt—especially if you plan to do a second term. In an evolving polity, where actions and inactions are coming under strong microscopic examinations, a politician could be held on a “read-my-lips” promise—as happened to US President George Bush the First.
EBE
ANYI NA-EJE (Where we are going):
The quality-of-life approach is a multifaceted and multidimensional continuity. It will take many policies and many programs to improve our people’s quality of life; however, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step. We are where we are today because others before us rolled up their sleeves and did some work. If you do your best, it will surely be good to Enugu State; and we will say as usual: To God be the Glory.
RULE OF LAW & SECURITY
As a lawyer, you owe it to the people of Enugu State to entrench the dictum that everyone is equal before the law, state or customary. Apropos of customary laws, if the only major change you make in this regard is the codification of Igbo customary laws, posterity will remember you. There are many good things about our customary laws, and they are not in conflict with federal or state laws. Ever wondered why the Igbo had no jails, no organized police force, no standing army, and no king? To this day, whole communities have no police presence; yet, as opposed to urban areas, where some officials drive around with truckloads of armed security agents, violent crimes are virtually inexistent.
Community policing is a proposal of EnuguUSA that brings a fresh perspective on our traditional policing using age-graders over centuries. The pilot program in Enugu State has revolutionized security in many rural communities. The policy should be strengthened with customary courts. It is amazing that while politicians parade police escorts, whole communities do not have a single policeperson. Enugu State, as other states, does not have its own police force, but a skeletal resident police presence in every community will augment the gains of community policing. The armed Federal police could act as the sheriff, while the community-policing agents act as the deputies. With sheriffs living amongst the people and depending on popular goodwill, their candid cooperation and strong support, to succeed, the incidence of blatant brutality and crude corruption will be reduced to the barest minimum. The coded customary court system, which is constitutional, will supplement the efforts of these agents in ensuring a much safer and secure environment.
URBANIZATION
You administration must produce master plans for ALL urban and potentially urban areas to stimulate suitable urbanization. The emerging urban ghettos must be stopped before they take root and create more unmanageable social problems. Ever been to Ugwu Aaron or Ugwu Obed, Ngene Evu or Agangwu? Besides Enugu metropolis, such towns as the following should be planned for modern urban dwelling: Adaada, Agbani, Awgu, Eha Amufu, Ninth Mile (with a new name), Nsukka, Obolo Afor, Oghe, Oji River, and Udi. In planning for urbanization, the surrounding towns and villages will remain largely undisturbed as satellite suburbs, but town planning ordinances will apply to future developments for effective provision of amenities and erosion control.
In planning the urban areas, therefore, we must take into consideration the fact that bucolic villages cannot absorb sudden urbanization without upsetting our people’s way of life and the environment. The effect of erosion in Nanka and environs, the urbanization of Onitsha, and the sprawling spread of Lagos are classic case studies. In essence, the master plans should shy away from set villages and allow a more gradual incorporation over a longer period of environmentally friendly, urban renewal.
For example, let’s take the urbanization of your hometown, Udi. Your people will not salute you if bulldozers barge in one day and start scraping every available farmland for macadamized roads. To urbanize the town, it should funnel along the old Enugu-Onitsha Road on the infertile sandy soils of Abia, Obinagu, Amaokwe, Umuabi, Umuaga, and Nachi, with a “downtown” at Okoto—just off Nkwo Agu market. This way, the surrounding Umuneke towns will dovetail gradually as planned satellite suburbs over the next century. The same situation applies to Ninth Mile. The towns of Ojebe Ogene (Ebe, Abor, Ukana, Awhum, Okpatu, Umulumgbe, and Ukehe ), Oshie (Eke & Nsude), and Ngwo will dovetail with the urban center straddling major vehicular arteries, big breweries, and the proposed spare parts market.
The guiding principle is the same generally for other potential urban centers or emerging townships, including such places to watch closely as Obolo Afor, Four Corner Junction (Ozala), Ugwuoba "Junction" -- where the old road and Express abut, and the new Gariki at the border of Enugu and Anambra States and the one beyond Awgu, towards the state border with Abia/Imo States. The differences are in the details.
BASIC AMENITIES
The problems of urbanization are
many. It appears sometimes that our governments simply allow neighborhoods to
“grow” on their own dung, without any plans for provision of basic amenities
(water, electricity, security, roads, healthcare, fire service, waste
management, etc.) It is no wonder some unscrupulous elements dream up schemes
and sell someone else's building or land! Admitted, the government cannot do it
all; this is why community councils should be empowered to manage some of the
problems with the
full support of the state in terms of technical, professional, legislative, and
financial logistics. It is no wonder no one has ever attempted to sell someone's
building in our local communities.
Town unions have been at the forefront of providing some of these basic amenities to their communities, including sinking boreholes, rural electrification, building of schools, awarding of scholarships, etc. These unions are the government many communities know. This is why the concept of community councils must be given a candid consideration. With steady stipend from local government accounts, these community councils will accomplish much more for all our peoples.
TRANSPORTATION
I did a study of Enugu mass transportation during the reign of Coal Camp’s Colonel Bob Nnaemeka Akonobi. The study eventually led to the establishment of new bus routes and a state transit system. Of course, like all state-run businesses, the rest is history. Nearly 20 years later, the situation has become worse. In those days, Okada flew safely but noisily; these days, "okada" rides on two wheels and defies known theories of modern urbanization. If we continue at this rate, with the incessant scarcity of fuel, bicycles and rickshaws—if not wheelbarrows — will be ferrying people across the city! Imagine what the famous operators of our childhood mass-transportation success stories [“Babangiri,” “C-to-C,” “Udoye,” “Small Joe,” etc.] would say if they were to reappear on the scene today!
How did we get from up there, when we had fewer resources, to this low point -- when the country is awash with petrodollars? Whether it is a direct result of bad roads, poor maintenance culture, poor planning, or simple high cost of machinery, things cannot continue to fall apart. We must stop digging; we are already too deep in the hole. Therefore, it is okay to foresee the elimination of daytime "okada" phenomenon from Enugu metropolis, since the nighttime operation is already history. “Foresee” means that "okada" should not be a campaign issue, but there must be a policy on how to re-channel the gains and efforts of these one-man motorcycle operators towards a more dignified and cooperative mass transportation befitting the Coal City. The success of "Peace" minibus transit is worthy of emulation. It will require a dedicated study and wide consultations, not unilateral government fiats; and, above all, it will require reenergized education policies and matching budgetary allocations.