The Governor of the year and The man of the year
Written by Emma Okocha
Thursday, January 1, 2009



"Uncle Emma, you must come home for the Christmas. The Delta capital has transformed into a beautiful city,  This  Governor is different  from others before  him.


He is building an International airport, he has given us light and from Nnebisi road to the West End, you will not believe what he has done to the city’s landscape’’

—Christmas Greetings from my niece, Ifeoma Okocha, Cable Point, Asaba.




"Governor Chime, has within so short a time demonstrated his willingness to work with everybody. He has cleaned out Enugu and operating on a lean budget, invested in massive infrastructural development ahead of any other state government, East of Niger.’’                                                           —Prince Richard Ozobo, Independence Layout, Enugu.




"This Governor has brought every Nigerian living in Lagos State to start hoping in government. The benefits of government are gradually coming to the people and we are on our own marching to the tax offices willingly to pay our taxes.’’

—Felix Ehirim Surulere, Lagos.




In one year of crusading journalism, we have targeted the PDP, ruling party, The Federal Government and its various National and State institutions, belting them for their lack of compassion in executing their responsibilities to the  citizens.

When we noticed the government lethargy in moving resources to develop the states we have not spared the government or the party which as we write do not have a programme for its sitting government or for the people. And where the governments at the centre, in the states and the Local entities, have failed to prosecute its stated policies and projects, we have also put them on the receiving end.

On the other hand,  we are not cynics. We engage in criticisms and participate in robust debates to create a widening avenue, which in the final analysis, allows the fertilization of superior arguments, automatically, advancing the devices and fresh ideas to enable the authorities perform well in their stipulated projects.

From such unencumbered intellectual encounters, it is our contention that the listening authority would then proceed and employ the forces and the abounding wherewithal within his reach to make good his word and his tenure. In the end the people benefit.

It is to our gratification that our feedback have encouraged us to devote this week’s column to the rising stars of  Nigerian politics and who after getting through in their elections have insisted on leaving behind some footprints on the sands of time.

Without gravitas and as compiled by our research team and as recorded by the index of our feedback graph, we proclaim the following,



THE GOVERNORS OF THE YEAR.

His Excellency, Babatunde Fashola, Executive Governor, Lagos State. A law graduate of the highly rated University of Benin. Suddenly, there is every sign that this governor is working his way to being a great governor.

He has attacked the cumbersome Lagos traffic and has presented a metroline programme, the first time since Jakande. We are impressed by the depth of his cabinet and watched his government’s compassion for the masses. His government has provided  free health care for the women and children of Lagos State.

Free textbooks for pupils in primary and secondary schools. He has expanded the Lagos suburb roads (Iyana-Iba-Isheri Road) and ongoing work on the Ikotun Iyana-Ipaja road networks.

To add to that he has increased Ferry services and if he ever he succeeds in the gigantic metroline project, history will at last hold it out for him as the greatest public servant to rise and to tackle this problem. Since those immaculate pathfinders of the post Independence era, this is the boldest step in the right direction to solving this nightmare.

For whomsever brings sanity to those Lagos roads and those creatures that live off those streets is the governor. The people have been praying and waiting for you over the years. Furthermore he has seen the need to reclaim more land from the Atlantic and turn the surges to modern megacities, complete with awesome shopping plazas.

His Excellency, Sullivan Chime, Executive Governor, Enugu State. Another law graduate who was a commissioner under the previous "Ebeanor" inside caucus of the fire eating Governor Nnamani cabinet.

His ascension to power has brought peace and respect to the different factions in the Enugu volatile political tangle. He has not allowed the factional  pulls to undermine his state wide development projects.

Enugu has since returned as a beautiful city on the hill and the youths have been given direct employment to ensure that the shiny city on the hill is no longer a dust bin of  all comers.

He continues to build the roads from where Jim Nwobodo and Nnamani stopped and there is the hope that it is only His Excellency, (having acquired a lot of the people’s goodwill as a result of outstanding performances) is in  the right position to move Enugu, the heart of the Igbos, to the peace and real development that is needed to stampede the other states to progress.

His Excellency, Dr. Emmanuel Ewetan Uduaghan, Executive Governor, Delta State. On account of our conflicting politics but very friendly relations, it has not been fair and easy to comment on the Governor’s activities in this prominent state, of the Niger Delta.

We remember as the Secretary of Government, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan raced to my manifesto rally (I was the APGA Gubernatorial Nominee 2002) where we shocked the state when we announced that we were going to ask the state assembly to cut the number of the Delta Commissioners to a total of six working portfolios; Justice, Health, Finance, Education, Agriculture, and Commerce and Industry.

We ended the pandemonium when we presented papers from Kansas on how Delta would feed the entire West Africa in six months after our inauguration.

Even though we avoided our then august visitor by coming to the rally very late, we had issued our congratulations to him and his government when the people ‘voted’ for PDP.

As we maintain, we have our issues with the ruling power. Even though we have thrown in the towel and said goodbye to Nigerian politics, we cannot ignore the peoples’ and of course my niece’s innocent Christmas message about this Governor.

Ifeoma is just a teenager. She was not totally aware when we were on the campaign trail, nor does she share my political philosophies.

Why would I not believe her and her no spin observations? She has said it all. The good governor is not like his predecessors. Unlike Governor Ibru who out of disdain never for one day slept in Asaba, the Delta capital: unlike my good friend,  Ibori, the Sheikh, who moved the capital from Warri to Asaba and back to Oghara, Governor Uduaghan has recognized that there is only one capital of Delta.

That does not mean that Warri, Oghara or for that matter the other cities and local governments would not get their due

A glance at his Economic plan which in the long run would establish the Warri seaport as an alternate seaport to the Lagos congested outlay is a vision without compare. Any relief to that Lagos python squeeze of our only functioning seaport, is the beginning to our economic recovery. As a consequence the Lagos- Benin highway will be relieved.

Onitsha and the East will  readily be serviced by Warri and the economies of Delta, and the other Niger Delta states will be impacted. On the debit side, Your Excellency, please stop all those foreign trips. Stay home and continue performing for the people.




MAN OF THE YEAR:  JUSTICE PETER UMEADI

In a country where the Judiciary could not give justice to the people, he came from the blues and delivered the workman Comrade governor.

Justice Umeadi is the man of the year, following in the traditions of Justice Inyang Bassey who waited for over thirty years to get his justice. Under the South Eastern State government of  Esuene, he refused to be corrupted and went ahead and delivered an anti-government verdict.

He was dismissed. He fought all the way to the Supreme Court and got reinstated at a very old age, under a new state of Cross River State.

He was going to be our Man Of The Year.

But who can best Justice Peter Umeadi? In a terrain where every state petition was in favour of the mighty forces, this man, formerly the Student Union President at UNN, restored the hope of our democracy. Giving his Benin historic verdict he resuscitated the English iconic Lord Jurist who in pronouncing his celebrated judgments believed that in the final analysis, Justice is always greater than the law.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/jan/1/303.html

Nigeria could hope and pray for no better qualified a president than current Lagos State Governor Fasola.

Leaders like Governor Fasola are of a rare enough breed to be counted on the fingers of one hand,  and they generally only appear at the rate of one per generation.   

[center][size=18pt]Fasola for President of Nigeria 2011 [/size] [/center]

Jakumo:

Nigeria could hope and pray for no better qualified a president than current Lagos State Governor Fasola.

Leaders like Governor Fasola are of a rare enough breed to be counted on the fingers of one hand,  and they generally only appear at the rate of one per generation.   

[center][size=18pt]Fasola for President of Nigeria 2011 [/size] [/center]

while fashola has done great things, i'm sure you realize that most of what he is doing is proabaly executing plans tinubu had previously laid the groundwork for. so why didn't Tinubu do that much during his tenure - ? well, he started - the bar beach is a good example - but the real reason, in my opinion is that there was a hostile federal government. baba iyabo is just the kind of asshole who will tear up renovations/improvements on 'federal property' by LASG

while fashola has done great things, i'm sure you realize that most of what he is doing is proabaly executing plans tinubu had previously laid the groundwork for

Drive slowly, Tinubu boys at work.