Nwaneri: his love, his regret, his wish and his thoughts for Imolites

By Ifeanyi Iheakanwa

If there is one individual who is particularly bothered about the draconian politics played by some of our contemporary politicians and its excruciating pains on the common masses, it is Chief Nwaneri Goodluck Chidera.

He had wished Imo state were much luckier to have humane and God-fearing leaders that would have ameliorated the sufferings of the people.

But because he is only an individual whose voice and shout may not be deafening for those in authority to hear, he only resorted in using his scarce resources to providing succour and a new lease of life to a large number of people especially those in close contact with him.

Hon. Nwaneri, a native of Okpala in Iho-dimeze Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo state is a young philanthropist whose chain of businesses have availed hundreds of thousands the opportunity to be gainfully employed.

In a recent interview with him, he regretted that Imo state, as one of the popular states in Nigeria, should have been fully developed and become centre of attraction for both foreign investors and tourists to come in.

Nwaneri described the level of suffering (hardship; high cost of feeding, transportation, house and shop rents etc) in the state as unprecedented and unwarranted.

He lamented, “everyone is wrong in my state – the government is wrong, the transporters, traders, school proprietors, eateries, and even the churches – we are all wrong.

“Sometimes, I mix up with the people in public transit and hear their stories – they aren’t good in the ears, they are nauseating, if not killing.

“The driver who is talking and lashing onto the government is busy collecting high fares from his passengers and even challenging them to a fight. If you ask him, he will tell you that fuel is costly, even when PMS price is gradually reducing.

“Passengers are attacking the conductors while the latter are raining different abuses on the former. The anger is too much.

“In eateries, if you order for food and ask how much, the price will automatically increase. It’s better you don’t ask at all. Both the attendant, the cook and the restaurant owner are bent on making outrageous selfish gains to the expense of the customer, how fast did we get to this level?

“My brother, I have seen it all in my state ever since I came back home. This is not the state I used to know. There was trust before now, I mean full trust, but not anymore. You engage one for a job, you must get a lawyer to back it up lest, your money is gone. No! This is not the state I used to know.

“Before we all left for greener pastures, there was nightlife. Imo was bubbling with activities from dusk to dawn – no guns, no unknown gunmen, no harassment, no fear, no dull moments. This is indeed sad.

“Our people are stinking rich overseas but they are afraid to bring their wealth home and develop our state because they are scared. Some have tried and did not succeed while some were whisked away and never came back. Something fast needs to be done to put a permanent stop to this irony of life.

“Yet in land matters, many have been duped of their hard earned money by selling and reselling disputed lands to them. What has not gone wrong in our dear state, a land we used to be very proud of; the land of hope. Something has gone wrong.

“This is absolutely not the Imo of our collective dreams. Something drastic has to be done to return normalcy to the system; this change has to start with the government. I sincerely believe that if the people are adequately provided with the dividends of democracy by those at the helm of affairs, there won’t too many grumbling, tongue-lashing, criticism, anger, hunger, kidnapping, assault, killing, open fighting, breakdown of law and order, youth restiveness, armed robbery, and many other social vices that have put our state in the state of disrepute. We should have been far above this.”

Hon. Nwaneri went on to urge those at the corridors of power to prioritize on human capital development, insisting that Imo will only get out its present state if the government should prioritize on youth empowerment, job creation, building of factories and industry, youth participation in politics and youth emancipation, among other things.

He recalled his regular empowerment programs and annual Ikeduru footfall tournament which he said, had galvanized the youths of the area and brought them together in unity and love.

The 34-year-old entrepreneur and philanthropist of Ikeduru land promised to continue doing his best to restoring the dashed hope of many Imolites who have directly or indirectly been made to believe that there are no more opportunities in Imo state.

To this end, he urged good-spirited individuals and well-to-do persons in the state to expand their coast of alms giving and benefaction to the have-nots who are fast increasing in the state, and not always waiting on government to do it all.

He further urged the government in power to do more for the youths by engaging them in profitable jobs because according to him, they are most vulnerable to violence and evil behavior if not properly taken care of.

“If you build the youths, you have built a nation, but if you destroy the youths, you have destroyed a whole nation. Youths are leaders of today, and no longer tomorrow. Let’s bring them close and engage them,” Hon. Nwaneri posited.