Exposed: How they looted Imo State Oil Producing Area development Commission SPECIAL REPORTS I made a telling revelation that the sum of 1 billion naira belonging to pensioners in the 27 LGA’s of Imo State was squandered by Sir Jude Ejiogu the current Chief of Staff to the Governor of Imo State. Ejiogu squandered this money when he was the Chairman of Imo State Local Government Service Commission. I lamented the squandering of the significant sum of 1 billion naira and another 3 billion naira looted by the Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly Mr Benjamin Uwajumogu. I cried out because most Imolites but especially the poor continue to suffer the effect of failing public health and education system as well as decrepit infrastructure and battered institutions. I highlighted what I see as the dawn of naked impunity in Imo State. HOW THEY KILLED IMO STATE OIL PRODUCING AREA DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION (ISOPADEC) Uwajumogu, Ejiogu and their megaphones have called me all sorts of names. I have been harassed and i have been closely monitored. They want to shut me up by all means. But as a citizen of Imo State, I am not intimidated. I will continue to speak out. One of the fundamental elements of democracy is the right to free speech without having others trample on your opinion. The capitalist thieving vampires currently in power in Imo state are looting our monies and yet they want us to shut up. They also want us to vote them again in 2015 for another round of impunity. Tufiakwa!!! I am not accusing these men falsely as they are claiming. I speak the truth about their fraudulent activities with boldness and anger. You will recall that in May, 2011, Owelle Rochas Okorocha took power from Ikedi Ohakim as Governor of Imo State. There was high hope by the masses that Okorochas rule will bring an end to mass poverty, worsening living conditions, mass unemployment, suppression of democratic rights, massive corruption, and insecurity of lives and property. But more than 3 years after, the high expectations of Imolites for real positive change in their lives have been shattered. Imolites are now singing Ikiri ka onye oshi mma. Not only has there been no substantial improvement in the lives of the Imo working masses, in some respect the situation has become worse. Thousands of Ndi-Imo still live without access to good food, housing, good roads, water, electricity and healthcare while Okorocha and his men are looting our monies. The anti-poor policies of sales of Imo public assets, commercialization of health, housing and other social services, and sack of workers in Imo State have made more and more Imolites poorer and the rich minority richer. Corruption among the elite has not only remained, it has become more sophisticated. Imo State has become one of the most unequal societies in the world, with the richest 20% of Imolites getting 55.7% of the states total income while the poorest 20% are left to struggle for just 4.4%. Currently Imo faces gargantuan problems in all areas of socio- economic and political endeavours. The State has further nosedived under the Owelle Rochas Okorochas government, lower than any other time since 1999. In every area you look at the only conclusion you will come to is that the Okorochas government has failed Imo people resoundingly. Mind you, when i say Okorocha has failed Imo , it is not an isolated opinion. Indeed this is the opinion of the mass majority of Imolites. According to a FAMOUS NAIJA opinion poll conducted in August 2013 , 81% of Nigerians assessed Okorochas performance in Imo as very bad; but only 19% assessed his performance as very well and fairly well. In March 2014 another FAMOUS NAIJA opinion poll was conducted and 85% of Nigerians think the present Owelle Rochas government has performed very badly in improving the living standard of the poor while only 15% think he is doing very well in improving the living standard of the poor. The most serious aspect of Imos problems is the poor and hopeless condition of the youths. Today unemployment has become a permanent feature of the life of Imo youth. Governor Okorocha has failed to offer Imo youths a real future. He sacked 10,000 Imolites from the civil service in year 2011.The 10,000 sacked youths are suffering today. The 10,000 sacked workers want their jobs back. I cannot keep quiet and watch Okorocha and his men loot Imo dry. Last week, I was in Bonny Island in Rivers State of Nigeria . I arrived the Island in the morning by boat and was amazed to see that the Island has electricity as the eyes could see . I turned to Mrs Hart who came to welcome me and I inquired about the reliability of electricity in the Island. Its steady, She said. How often do you see power outages? I asked. She said we have light here 247.If they take it, it comes back in 15 minutes time. In fact, I cant remember the last time we witness power outage here in Bonny. It is pay as you go. You recharge your card and your light is on I could hardly mask my bewilderment and sense of humiliation! I felt humiliated because I am from an oil producing kingdom like Bonny called Egbema in Imo State. By contrast, the people of Egbemas narrative in terms of electricity is awful . Power supply is non-existent in the 13 Egbema towns. Since Governor Rochas Okorocha came into power in 2011, the people of Egbema have not seen electricity. Yet on monthly basis 13 percent oil derivation fund is paid to Imo State for the development of the oil producing areas in Imo. Out of this 13 percent oil derivation found 40 percent is meant for ISOPADEC, the commission set up to develop Imo oil areas. Where are the monies? From may 2011 to December 2013 Imo state received N16,613,768,782.98 (sixteen billion, six hundred and thirteen million seven hundred and sixty eight thousand seven hundred and eighty naira ninety eight kobo) as 13 percent oil derivation funds for development of the oil communities in Imo State. Find below the monthly breakdown. May 2011 N278,919,682.00 June 2011 N491,415,545.00 July 2011 N607,508,024.40 August 2011 N691479700.1 September 2011 N650318411.4 October 2011 N742,626,299.53 November 2011 N506556992.7 December 2011 N513122495.7 January 2012 N624755732.8 February 2012 N430283610 March 2012 N495,802,869 April 2012 N530,948,180.82 May 2012 N414,451,615.90 June 2012 N557,851,267.36 July 2012 N441286601.6 August 2012 N563593288.1 September 2012 N436,366,936.76 October 2012 N507,915,584.96 November 2012 N453147887.2 December 2012 N433,746,138.22 January 2013 N548,284,488.83 Febuary 2013 N433,812,735.87 March 2013 N548908424.6 April 2013 N702685396.7 May 2013 N536243879.4 June 2013 N533,171,999.86 July 2013 N465,435,601.16 August 2013 N464,118,297.86 September 2013 N596,526,274.32 October 2013 N702681346.1 November 2013 N439,814,732.12 December 2013 N548,908,424.70 Where are the monies? The monies have developed wings. It is so sad to note that leaders from Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta where Imo oil money comes from are not speaking about the comatose ISOPADEC. Schools, water, road and hospital rehabilitation in Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta which forms part of the duties of ISOPADEC remains in their same dilapidated state . Do we allow just one person in the capacity of Governor Rochas Okorocha to continue to make our mothers and grandparents suffer helplessly in the villages? Do we continue to allow the governor of Imo State to deprive local governments of the funds needed to build schools, roads, motor parks, markets etc.? Do we continue to herald him with the title His Excellency when he has made us beggars and impoverished us in a perpetual state of squalor? Do we continue to clap for Owelle Rochas Okorocha at the commissioning of petty projects, which is far below the commensurate allocation given to him? Lets ask questions now ,otherwise we shall continue to cry aloof with no one to beckon on us. Rather than crucifying me, i should be encouraged for having the boldness to speak out . We shall bear the pains of our parents been rejected in the hospitals for our inability to pay their medical bills, our siblings shall continue to be denied admission because of free education on paper while schools are denied developmental funds. We shall be tempted to become kidnappers and arm robbers at our own peril. Let us stop placing ourselves in subservient position, thereby helping an uncaring governor to achieve his deadly political ambitions at the expense of the state. Wisdom is profitable, how long shall we continue to be fooled? Kenneth Uwadi is from Mmahu-Egbema , Imo State, Nigeria. He is the Coordinator of Youths Against Human Rights Violation And Corrupt Practices (YAHVCP) elombah/detail.php?world=28379 Exposed: How they looted Imo State Oil Producing Area development Commission elombah
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 08:20:25 +0000
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