IKPEAZU AND THE VALUE OF TRUST IN LEADERSHIP

 
Sam Hart
Date was Tuesday, March 13, 2018 and time was 10am. Venue was the Enyimba International Stadium, Aba.
Abia State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu had an August visitor in Amaju Melvin Pinnick, the President of the Nigerian Football Federation. Mr. Pinnick, a vibrant and dynamic leader, was in Abia State to check on the football family in the State. Abia incidentally is one of the few states if not the only state in Nigeria (I stand corrected) with 2 teams in the elite division of the Nigerian Football League vis Enyimba International Football Club and Abia Warriors Football Club.
As part of his visit, Governor Ikpeazu took his guest to the Enyimba International Stadium currently undergoing reconstruction to show him the progress of work and apprise him with progress on the project.
Governor Ikpeazu would later confess that he was a bit worried about the reception the delegation would get from the teeming Enyimba F.C supporters around the stadium as work had been ongoing for a while necessitating the relocation of the club to Calabar to play her home matches and the supporters of the club were expected to be somewhat hostile to a government delegation to the stadium.
After showing his host around, Governor Ikpeazu sought to apologise to the gathered fans and explain the delay to them and he got a response that made him emotional.
The instantly appointed spokesperson for the fans assured the Governor that they trusted him and understood that if the work was taking this long, then they had no doubt that the outcome would be world class. That they had seen the work he has done and is doing in Aba and around Abia State that although took time, the end-product was always worth the wait. They assured him of their support and wished him well.
It was an emotional Governor Ikpeazu that left the stadium.
In one of his interviews at the onset of his administration, Governor Ikpeazu was asked his greatest expectation of the populace of his administration and he responded in his trade-mark cerebral nature that it was the need for him to get social engineering right over and above the provision of infrastructure. Social engineering here being the need for the populace to be on the same page with government, understand programmes and policies of the administration and take personal ownership of projects and visions and be able to interpret and explain them without government having to do so.
Today was a confirmation for him that he was meeting his objective.
A people who should ordinarily be agitated and angry with him that they are being deprived of the opportunity of watching their darling team play at home have understood his vision and are wholeheartedly trusting him to give them the best. What a moment! What a Eureka moment!
The Governor would later explain why he approaches developmental challenges the way he does and it is better reproduced verbatim in his own words:
“I do not believe in palliatives. I do not believe in treating symptoms and manifestations while the original cause of the ailment remains unaddressed. I would rather go to the root of a problem and deal decisively with it than engage in window-dressing, showmanship and cheap publicity that comes with quick-fixes. For 2 reasons. 1, it is just not in my nature. 2, Abia State does not have the resources to expend on projects that we will have to redo again after a while. It is penny wise, pound foolish!”
This mindset is evident in the way he has approached road construction in Abia State.
It is why he first built a Kilometre-long water-evacuation outlet from Oomne drive to the Port Harcourt expressway before commencing the tarring of the road. That road, which is a key artery in and out of Aba, has for the first time in recollectable memory, survived 2 rainy seasons. The road has been tarred countless times by previous administrations but never survived the next rainy season. It took time and discomfort but today, the people are happier for it.
It is also for this reason that the Ikpeazu administration first built the engineering wonder known as the Ifeobara Pond and then constructed a 7km underground water evacuation system before commencing work on tarring of Faulks Road, Aba with giant drainages on both sides. It rained heavily in Aba recently and even as the rain was pouring in torrents, there was no collection of water anywhere on Faulks road. Cars were driving past blissfully. This seemingly ‘normal’ occurrence was unthinkable years ago. At the slightest shower, you would need a canoe to pass through Faulks road. NEVER AGAIN!
This mindset is why the Aba road in Umuahia is a sort of tourist attraction. Years prior, that road perennially failed after every rainy season because it is below sea level and rain water percolates there leading to constant collapse but today, Arab Contractors have elevated the road and built a drainage system underneath for water to naturally flow without the road disrupting its natural flow. Water is happy to pass underneath, the road is happy to exist above!
It is why the Governor has insisted that every road to be built by his administration MUST come with drainages on both sides. It is why he is building roads with rigid pavement technology which entails a concrete and rod underlay before an asphalt overlay. It is why he is constructing roads built to last.
His projects may take time but you can be sure that for every road the Ikpeazu administration constructs, for the next 20 years, government will not need to work on that road again!
Another factor glaringly highlights the trust that exists between Governor Ikpeazu and his people. To date, the Abia State government has had to knock off 86 houses to achieve the desired width of proposed roads. No protests, no resistance from the home owners.
These days, all the government has to do is to mark buildings on road paths for demolition and the owners of the buildings will on their own, bring down the buildings even before government bull-dozers arrive. They know that it is for the general good. They know that it is not an act of vendetta. ‘If Ikpeazu says my building needs to make way for a road, then I will pull it down myself. I trust him!’
The examples go on and on but the message has been made clear. In Abia State, the people trust their Governor. They trust him to do the right thing and even when it causes them pain, they excise the tumour so that the body can be spared.
Come to Abia State and see the value of trust in leadership. It is not coerced, it is not enforced, it is earned. it is organic. Flowing naturally from the people to their leader.
Come to Abia and see.
Sam Hart, a Lawyer, writes from Aba.