The governor of Anambra State, Professor Charles Soludo, came into office in March 2022. That was two clear years after the governor of Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodimma became governor in January 2020. Soludo is in his second term now having won a reelection mandetr last November. Within his first term, Soludo employed about 6000 teachers for the public schools in Anambra. I learned that he’s about to recruit additional 5000 teachers for the state.
Abia State Governor Alex Otti came into office in May 2023. That was three solid years after Uzodimma took office as Imo governor. Governor Otti employed 5000 teachers for the public schools in Abia state in less than two years in office. Just last week, the Abia Government shortlisted the names of additional 5000 prospective teachers for the second batch of recruitment.
In Enugu and Ebonyi States, their governors are first termers having been elected into office in May 2023 just like Alex and of Abia State. Both of them have since recruited new teachers for their public schools. Across the country, many first term governors and even outgoing ones have fortified their public schools with new teachers to augment the paucity of teachers in their various states.
Uzodimma is the oldest governor in the south east in particular having became governor years before his colleagues. However, it’s quite unfortunate and saddening that Imo State is the only state in the country, particularly the south east, where there’s severe dearth of teachers in the public schools in the state.
Uzodimma started his own peculiar brand of teachers’ recruitment about 2022 which is roughly four years ago. Till this very moment as I write, he’s yet to complete the recruitment. When he started the recruitment in 2022, many cynics and critiques tagged it as ” election recruitment” for the purpose of the 2023 general election. It does appear that those critiques have been proven right.
In all honesty, Uzodimma has performed above average in terms of infrastructural development. He could be given the second position behind Chief Sam Mbakwe in the history of Imo creation. He has done substantially well in terms of infrastructural development.
However, Infrastructural development shouldn’t take precedence over human capital development. It’s human beings that will use the infrastructures. Uzodimma has performed abysmally poor in terms of human capital development particularly in the education sector of the economy.
The last successful teachers recruitment was during the government of Chief Rochas Okorocha. Regardless of the bubuyaya that characterized Okorocha’s government, he was able to undertake a genuine teachers’ recruitment in his second term which his successors were unable to terminate the employment of the teachers.
Okorocha did his recruitment in 2016, and left office in 2019. That was three solid years before the expiration of his tenure. That made it impossible for his successors, particularly his immediate successor, Chief Emeka Ihedioha, to terminate the appointments. The reason was that if the appointments had lasted for about three years, and Okorocha was able to pay the workers, it would have been unjustifiable for his successors to terminate the appointments.
Chief Ikedi Ohakim did his recruitment of 10000 workers in the state in 2010. That was a year to the end of his first term. Many doubted his altruism for the recruitment just a year to go. That gave impetus to his successor, Okorocha, to terminate the appointments. If Ohakim was altruistic about the employment,he should have initiated it two or three years to be end of his tenure just like Otti, Soludo and the other south east governors did.
Why is Imo State unlucky with altruistic leaders apart from Mbakwe? Every recruitment process has been embellished with ulterior motives. Why can’t they be like their colleagues in the south east. Sometimes, most Imolites are always ashamed to be identified with the state among the comity of states.
The recruitment of teachers that Governor Uzodimma started since 2022 is still pending. Not a single teacher has been employed under him. What he didwas to increase the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years. Imo State public schools are groaning under the suffocating weight of lack and inadequate teachers in primary and secondary schools. Assuming the state needs a minimum of ten thousand teachers (10000) and it currently has one thousand (1000) teachers, how does increasing the retirement age of the grossly inadequate teachers help in mitigating the teaching problem in the state? Increasing the retirement age was a useless policy. What the state needs is qualified and adequate teachers to teach our children.
Uzodimma, just celebrated his six years in office last week. Imolites had expected that he would announce the issuance of employment letters to the prospective teachers as part of the activities to mark his six years anniversary. Whosai! He has two more years to go. If he is genuine with this teachers’ recruitment, he should deploy these already shortlisted teachers to their various schools. Payment their two years salaries shouldn’t be a burden after all he and his other colleagues governors have severally and openly confessed that their federal allocations have quadrupled since the removal of the fuel subsidy. Their internally generated revenues have also multiplied. So, why is Uzodimma prevaricating to complete the recruitment of teachers he started four years ago?
Most of these shortlisted the returned from Abuja, Lagos, and other faraway states during the Christmas season. Most of them had resigned their previous jobs where they were managing their lives and returned home with the hope that they would start work in first week of January after being posted to their various schools. We are in the third week of January,yet no news from the government. Schools have resumed for the second term. Ordinarily, these new teachers ought to start last September which was the beginning of the first term but the government is still playing hanky panky with the recruitment when sister states are in their second batch of recruitment. Why hasn’t Uzodimma employed a single teacher in six years? Is Imo cursed or are we the cause? Onye mere Imo ihe a?
Hope Nwanze, writes from Abuja.
