By Ogu Bundu Nwadike
A good medical doctor friend of mine gave me a very good piece of advice which has been helping me manage well my health. His advice was simple. “Nobody is ever in 100 per cent good health”! That advice was given to me some years ago. But it has remained a creed for sustaining my good health! To the glory of God, am seldom ill or sick!
How does it work? If you asked that question, then you’re in spirit. I also asked my doctor friend. His answer was: “The entire body can’t be bad at the same time. At all times, more parts of the body are in good condition than the parts in poor condition. Focus on the good parts and don’t worry much about the poor parts.”
I have since thereafter abided by that advice and it’s working for me. I implore my people to try it. It will work for everybody.
That true life story can be extended to all things bright and beautiful that God Almighty made. Take Imo State for instance. Imo State is good, bright and beautiful as made by God Almighty.
Imo State has body soul and spirit like every existing entity. There are more good parts than poor parts. In line with the advice of that doctor, Imo people must focus on the good parts and be happy without worrying much about the poor parts.
In fact, the doctor also said that often poor parts of a person’s body get good with time. He adds that the worst trouble of the body is excessive worrying about its health!
Imo State is making progress. The governor, His Excellency, Emeka Ihedioha, is doing well. There’s no standstill. There’s nothing like standstill. There may be traffic go slow or traffic hold up, but there’s seldom a traffic standstill.
In fact, on where you are in Imo State, the prevalent traffic situation is zoom zoom! There’s no road in Imo State that’s in dilapidated conditions throughout its length and breadth. There are more good lengths of any road and few bad spots. That’s an undiluted statement of fact. By and by, everybody gets home, anyway; albeit with some sacrificial momentary pains!
It’s no longer a government propaganda that contracts have been awarded to reputable road construction companies for over 500 kilometers of roads.
It’s no longer a government hype that the relevant engineers have advised against commencement of major road works in the peak of the rainy season. And, as a listening government, that reasonable advice has been accepted by the government.
It’s now old news that the Imo State Ministry of Works has commenced providing palliative measures on some intra-city roads here and there.
It’s not true that there’s a potential threat to health and life by a possible epidemic breakout, owing to poor environmental sanitation in the State. That’s not true!
Truth is that given the peculiar situation and circumstances inherited by Governor Ihedioha from the immediate past ex-governor Rochas Okorocha, the State is making progress as the governor is doing well.
It’s unfortunate that some people in Imo State feign ignorance about the precarious predicament of Imo the State. They forget that above everything else, there’s severe paucity of funds to do all the things that are being expected at the same time.
There’s no need pretending that all is well in Imo State. For a long time, probably for eight years, from 2011 to 2019, all wasn’t well with Imo State. That’s what Governor Ihedioha inherited.
Since May 29, 2019 there’s been a gradual but steady improvement in the condition of Imo State. That’s the truth! Virtually every sector of the State’s economy is receiving pleasant touches at various places. There’s a ray of light in the tunnel Imo found herself. That too is a statement of fact.
Imo State has only recently been liberated by God through Imo people and Governor Ihedioha. Like every new independent country, State or local government, Imo State is starting to put many of her things in place.
The opening internally generated revenue (IGR) of Imo State was about N200 million monthly. Five months after, it’s growing up to nearly N1 billion monthly. The Imo State Internal Revenue Service (IIRS) led by Nze Charles Onwunali, is working towards improving, increasing and stabilizing the IGR at about N2 billion monthly.
The emphasis on IGR is sacrosanct and valid because every suya is from a herbivorous ruminant. All developmental transformation of the society and the State depends on availability of revenue. QED!
Everybody is talking about development. Some are dispiriting the people with alarms of Imo State being in a standstill. Many expect Imo State to be like London and Paris. But few ever ask: “Where’s the money to accomplish all the expectation”!
The good news, however, is that for the first time since the creation of Imo State, from Governor Ihedioha to the least of his aides, Imo State has the very best corpus of leadership operatives. That’s the home truth!
Therefore, let Imo people remain in high spirits. Let Ndimo be very optimistic with their trust and confidence in the Ihedioha Government that they elected into office. Everything is gonna be all right sooner than later! By God’s grace Imo State must be rebuilt!
.Nwadike is the special assistant to the governor of Imo state on research.
