EBONYI STATE
DAVID UMAHI: THE RICE MERCHANT OF THE EAST
David Umahi has focused on infrastructure development in his state. With three new flyovers in Abakaliki and road construction in other parts of the state, his people appear to be happy with his stewardship halfway into his tenure. He is also empowering youths in his state, taking over 4,000 unemployed youths and hawkers off the streets through the N250, 000 empowerment scheme.
Umahi’s focus on agriculture has also catapulted his state into one worth watching. Abakaliki rice, which for many years disappeared as a food staple on many people’s tables in the South-east, has witnessed a major resurgence under the governor’s stewardship and has helped to push the down the price of this important food staple in the region. Increasing from 120 metric tonnes of rice processed daily, output today stands at 180 metric tonnes, with room to process more because of increased patronage.
However, Umahi has to place more emphasis on this area of comparative advantage by attracting more investors into his state to set up state-of-art rice processing mills and incentivising paddy rice farmers, so that output can increase from the current 260,000 metric tonnes per annum. Although Umahi has targeted 350,000 metric tonnes of rice by the end of the year, he should set his sights on 1-2 million metric tonnes before the end of his tenure. That would give his state a first mover’s advantage in terms of cornering market share in a country with an estimated rice consumption of 6 million metric tonnes per annum.
His is also a handful of states that has made his workers happy, because in spite of the economic downturn, their salaries are paid as and when due. The governor has equally focused on projects in the urban and rural areas of his state by building roads, making pipe borne water more readily accessible, and in beautification projects in Abakiliki, the state capital. But by stopping the contributory pension scheme, workers in his state are certain to face an uncertain fate upon retirement, effectively increasing poverty and putting pressure on health, housing and other social amenities in the state.
Furthermore, a lot is left to be desired in the provision of improved health care facilities and education in Ebonyi. Equally disconcerting is the rising crime wave and herdsmen who have infiltrated his state.
In the area of internal revenue generation, Umahi has also taken his finger off the pulse as data provided by the National Bureau of Statistics shows that IGR has dropped precipitously under his watch from N2.3 billion in 2011, rising to N8.2 billion in 2012, rising again to N10.4 billion in 2013, improving to N11 billion in 2015, holding steady at N11 billion in 2015, then crashing inexplicably to N2.34 billion in 2016. Could the sharp decline have been as a result of the recession, or are there gapping leakages in Ebonyi that Umahi must block? For a state that gets FAAC allocations that average about N2.5 billion a month, revenue drive from diverse sources is an area that must be improved upon.