Assessing Soludo, Obi-Okoye’s cooperative model of political empowerment

BY OBINNA ODOGWU

About 24 hours or so before the last congress of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) which produced the current leaders of the party at all levels, the then-chairmanship candidate for Anambra state, Sir Ifeatu Obi-Okoye, held a press conference.

At the media parley which took place in Awka, the state capital, Obi-Okoye reeled out his plan for the party in the state, promising to transform it if allowed to serve.

He talked about his past public life, chronicling his achievements at various positions he had held and even his childhood days. It was on the basis of his sterling records that he appealed to the party members to give him the opportunity to take the state’s chapter of the party to the next level.

True to his expectations and hope, he got the job; and has since been very busy delivering on his campaign promises to the party, its members and millions of followers in the state.

One of the topics in his manifesto was the issue of political appointments, empowerment and reward systems generally.

Obi-Okoye, while he interacted with journalists, seemed to have issues with the way and manner in which members and strong supporters of various political parties were usually treated by winners of elections after they had been helped to emerge victorious at the polls.

The Anambra APGA chairman believed and still believes that party members, supporters and others who helped a party to win an election should be rewarded according to their efforts even as the elected officials of the government work hard for the good of the entire populace in the given political space.

Truly, it is normal for individuals or even a group of people who support a candidate of a political party to win an election to seek or lobby for political appointments. Like they say in local parlance, whoever that plays in a football match deserves an orange.

But this basket of oranges, at the end of every political tournament, hardly goes around. Findings show that a few people in government share these oranges among themselves, leaving the greater population of the people who climbed the trees to pluck them empty-handed.

Not comfortable with this seeming age-long practice, Obi-Okoye came up with what he called ‘The Cooperative Model of Empowerment.’

In this proposal, he talked about rewarding party loyalists, especially the youths, by helping them to acquire life-changing skills and then giving them some grants to set up their businesses.

“Certainly, political appointments cannot go round to the huge number of party members and supporters who desire such appointments”, Obi-Okoye reasoned.

“More so, I have come to the realisation that these appointments last for only as long as the Governor is in office after which they are thrown back to the labour market.

“Unfortunately, I notice, lately, that quite a number of these erstwhile political appointees are now roaming the streets, jobless and despondent.”

Going further, he said: “To my mind, I think it’s about time we revolutionised this practice and found a more engaging solution that provides a more permanent job opportunity and lucrative means of livelihood for party members.

“In this regard, I would suggest we apply the co-operative system of empowerment as a more veritable means of empowerment for our teaming party youths and supporters.

“Through the cooperative model, we can train party members and support them after training them with grants to establish their own businesses.

“For me, the cooperative model applied effectively provides a more permanent means of livelihood than political appointments that are usually tenured, leaving party members destitute and jobless at the expiration of the tenure.”

Ever since he assumed office as the state chairman of APGA in Anambra, political watchers and all those who follow his activities say that Obi-Okoye has been working hard to reposition the party in the state. They are usually quick to point out how his radical disruptive changes are giving the party a facelift and making it more acceptable to Ndi Anambra.

Incidentally, the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who was already in office before the emergence of the current party leaders, had a similar model in his 2021 manifesto packaged in a different format and pattern; and has since commenced their implementation.

Soludo believed and still believes that the best way to empower the people under his leadership, not just his political supporters, is to give them skills and jobs that would serve them for life. He believes that teaching people, especially the jobless ones, how to fish is far better than just giving them fish.

It is, perhaps, for this reason that Soludo, in less than two years of his ascendency to power, employed about 5,000 teachers to address the problem of inadequacy of teachers in Anambra public schools.

There is an ongoing recruitment exercise for an additional 3,000 teachers to ensure that this problem is effectively addressed.

There was also the recruitment of nearly 1,000 health workers according to the government. These health workers included doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab technicians and others; and they were to work in various general hospitals and primary healthcare centres (PHCs) scattered across the 21 LGAs in the state.

There was also the empowerment of the young people in the state through the One Youth, Two Skills programme of the state government. So far, the first batch of 5,000 youths who participated in the program have graduated and were empowered with N2 billion as seed capital to start their businesses.

At the moment, there’s an ongoing training of about 2,000 youths in the state in various ICT packages. In the Code Anambra Program being run by Solution Innovation District in partnership with Decent Job Tech Skills Ltd, the youths would be trained in 14 digital skill areas.

The course options are Web Development (Frontend), Web Development (Backend), Cloud Computing, Mobile App Development, Machine Learning, Game Development and Artificial Intelligence.

Others are Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Blockchain Technology, Product Management, Cyber Security, UI/UX Design (Product Design), Digital Marketing and Arduino Programming/Internet of Things.

According to the organisers, Code Anambra was designed to equip Ndi Anambra with the knowledge, expertise, and practical digital skills that are relevant in the local and international arena in today’s world. And they are offered free by Governor Soludo.

What better ways are there to empower the people, especially the young ones, other than teaching them how to fish; and then some hooks and baits to venture into the river and get as many fish as they want?

What better ways are there to empower the youths than equipping them with various relevant skill sets and some seed capital to start their business ventures which will serve them a lifetime?

In Anambra, Soludo and Obi-Okoye are walking their talks through the APGA-led government for the good of the state, their political party and its teaming supporters.

Odogwu writes via [email protected]