ByChukwudi Enekwechi

As Abia state gets ready for the governorship election in 2023, political bigwigs are already declaring their interests and marshalling out plans on what they have in stock for the people. While some aspirants are merely making terse declarations without the commensurate vision and road map for the state, it is gratifying that Dr. Chidia Maduekwe, Managing Director of the Nigerian Film Corporation seems to possess the wherewithal and indeed has a grasp of the yawning needs of the state.

As the son of a headmaster who by dint of diligence and hard work studied medicine at the University of Ibadan, Dr. Maduekwe has done a surgical analysis of the developmental problems of Abia state, which have led to its backwardness despite being an oil producing state, and the commercial hub of the South East region of Nigeria.

Flowing from this realisation, he sees education, skills acquisition, technology and innovation, health and infrastructural development as key elements in the renaissance of a new Abia state under his watch. Going into the historical evolution of the state which held a lot of promise in the early 50’s and 60’s, and which produced personages like late premier of the Eastern region, Dr. M.I. Okpara,

Maduekwe will want to re-enact the glorious days of the past, and with the help of technology and other modern implements of governance surpass the achievements of the past and restore hope, dignity and confidence to the people. It is on record that the Eastern region was adjudged the fastest growing region in the whole world in the 60’s, and Aba the commercial nerve centre of the region played a pivotal role.

To achieve this lofty goals, the creation of three major urban cities as envisaged by Dr. Maduekwe will be a sine-qua-non, while the depletion of the humongous security vote to as low as 20%, which has become a source of pillaging the common patrimony will be used to jumpstart the health sector through the creation of cottage hospitals within a period of eighteen months from the day of inauguration as a governor.

One striking feature of the condensed manifesto of Dr. Chidia Maduekwe who is aspiring as governor of Abia state on the ticket of All Progressives Congress is that he plans to replicate the achievements of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration at the federal level in Abia state.

As a side-line observer one can only establish the fact that Dr. Maduekwe is a discerning leader, visionary and full of workable ideas towards the elevation of Abia state to an African business hub, and this is doable going by the several programmes and policies which he plans to deploy if elected as a governor.

In summation, Maduekwe has clearly demonstrated that he possesses the requisite capacity to turn things around in Abia state as he is clear-headed on the organic manner he will tackle the developmental challenges of his home state. His approach can be described as what we refer in common parlance as “thinking out of the box”. His peculiar understanding of the Abia environment is not strange considering that he was born, raised and schooled in the area, and after his university education at University of Ibadan returned home to engage in community medicine where he helped to deliver healthcare to the grassroot and less-privileged almost free of charge. One outstanding reality of his aspiration is the urge for immediate action to rescue Abia state and reposition it to its enviable status for which it was historically known. For a state that was known as an industrial and commercial hub in the old eastern region, the decrepit infrastructure and low industrial capacity  being witnessed today have become debilitating and a source of underdevelopment. This morass is what Maduekwe wants to turn around if he clinches the APC ticket and goes ahead to win the governorship election.

In his avowal “Nkaa G’eme” “Kanyi Kesandu” which translates to mean “this is doable” and ‘’let’s distribute good life’’ Maduekwe waxed philosophical and tended to connect with the people in the language they will understand and in the spirit of cmaraderie. These slogans have already turned into a connecting thread between him and the people of Abia state, and the result is that the persona of Dr. Chidia Maduekwe in the quest for the governorship of Abia state is gradually manifesting as a political mass movement.

Perhaps one intriguing aspect of the aspiration is the enormous energy being invested by the Abia-born medical doctor in his desire to transform his state, and make life more abundant. How about the personal sacrifice he will make as encapsulated in the decision to cut the security vote of the governor by 80%? As it is well known in Nigeria security vote has remained the albatross in the fight against corruption as most state governors are usually not compelled to account for the humongous amount of money sometimes running into billions of naira set aside as security vote.

Enekwechi writes via Kwechis19@yahoo.com