Michael Okpara: Remembering quintessential premier

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…A centennial tribute

Daniel Obimba

When Bill Clinton reversed the economic fortunes of the United States in the 90’s and handed the Union a balanced budget, it was deemed an economic miracle! A balanced budget is an economic and financial ideal; the imperatives are that budget deficits are avoided, repressed and on occasion juxtaposedwith widening surplus as the balance of payment and trade retain fiscal health. Some decades before Clinton’s redeeming but glittering performance, Michael Okpara, modest medical doctor from Ohuhu Umuahia, born on Christmas day 25th December 1920 (a hundred years this Christmas), this exemplary administrator who began his political career less than a decade before independence made the feat of budget balancing and surpluses a regular feature of the then Eastern regional government.

Okpara

Adebayo Adedeji in his work: Nigeria Federal Finance recounts the remarkable record and the fiscal leaps of the Okpara led Eastern region in terms of budgetary surplus as follows: 1962/1963 +3.8 (£ million),1963/1964 +2.9,1964/1965+2.1 for the South east region which improved in the period following.
The record was towering and inimitable for that multiple year period throughout the era as the comparative assessment of the time confirmed. The North despite vast allocation under the Raisman Commission fiscal regime posted the following 1962/1963 -1.8 (£ million), 1963/1964+0.6, 1964/1965 +3.5. In the West, the drop in revenue took its toll 1962/1963 -0.5 (£ million) 1963/1964 +3.0 1965/1964 -0.1.

Scholars, Ekanade and Ekanade writing in the Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences Volume 2, No2.2, QuarterII 2011 attributed this slide in returns for the regional government of Western Nigeria to the dip and lull in the global price of cocoa. However prices of other cash crops shrank too. Reported losses for the South West Region alone in 1961 for cash crops like rubber, palm kernel and palm oil were £ 2million and £ 2.1million respectively. The implication being that the cash crop driven economies of all south regions especially were not spared.

The Raisman Commission was reprehended by the scholars essentially for skewing the allocation indices thereby importing huge disadvantages that trammeled the potentials of Western Nigeria. But the writers were also quick to concede to the administration led by Dr Okpara that it appeared to have “improved its relative position”
This is more so given patent indications that the Raisman Commission’s dire forecast for 1959/1960 in the Western Region never materialized because it was obvious that better checks and balances where in place by the regional government in charge in the fifties.

However, Dr Okpara is generally regarded as the man who presided over the most fiscally responsible, stable and productive government in the First Republic. That explains why across the tiers of government between the period under review, (1962 to 1966), the region showed clear capacity to progress and continue to register sustained growth.
While other governments like the Northern Regional government enjoyed revenue hike up to 47% from 1962 to 1966, the federal government was able to rally 43% growth in revenue in the same period. The West was dogged by a loss that floated around 7% but continued to sustain a robust display in crop produce exports. But the lead was clearly that of Okpara’s administration as revenue boost over the period for the region stood at 57%. These achievements were staggering considering that when Okpara came to power in 1959, the Eastern Region was by major indicators, the poorer of the regions.

 

It is interesting to note that industrialization was not a focal interest in colonial Africa. For instance, the 10 year plan of development and welfare for Nigeria 1946-1956 (discontinued in 1954) and the 1955-1960 plan, reserved 25% of cumulative expenditure to the upgrade of water supply and health services but just about 6.4% to industry et al. When the industrial development (income tax relief) ordinance 1958 was introduced, according to Ayo writing in the development planning in Nigeria, it was only to protect the freedom of capital repatriation by foreign investors. Still with greater autonomy and quasi-autonomy for Africans and African controlled governments varying albeit tardy statements were made in industrial output. When the foresighted regional government of western Nigeria of the late 50’s unfolded 200 acres for industrial development in Ikeja area of Lagos it was to be a departure from the colonial lassitude towards industrial developments. For a period many African nations seemed to lean towards a uniform approach. In charting a course towards industrialization driven initially towards support for basic needs industries, South Africa, later Africa’s foremost industrial giant embraced public administered development corporations (i.e. the international development corporation) early as the fundamental catalysis. This became a well-worn path. In the Eastern region, there was the ENDC (Eastern Nigeria Development Corporation) which co-existed and paired with the African Continental Bank and Cooperative and Commerce Bank.

The Western Region evolved a dual intervention that saw the finance corporation and the development corporation co-existing. The South African outfit, IDC was both promoter and bank in one breath. Such were typical African attempts, for a period, to promote development and inject some pulse into the industrial sector. However Okpara favoured a revolutionary industrial project with proposed elements that differed from the norm by offering a certain basic variation. He did not just plan but implemented the idea of an industrial urban renewal such that Eastern Nigerian townships and cities blossomed, not just with commercial clusters but with integrated industrial presence. In a brief space of time, the region began to experience a radical evolution in the industrial landscape that resulted in the appearance of the factory/ industrial road in Aba with the same zest demonstrated across the region with factory/Industrial roads appearing in Umuahia and also in Calabar. The master plan for Eastern Nigerian townships was revised to include industrial free zones. This was supported by the creation of Emene industrial layout in the present day Enugu State while the Trans-Amadi industrial estate was laid out. The administration had developed a seminal “three city nexus” plan to comprise Port Harcourt, Owerri and Aba incipient to an industrial regeneration planned to spread rapidly and span through decades. Trans Amadi layout remained pivotal to the economic industrial relevance of Port Harcourt as not only a regional economic nest but with certified national status as one of the nation’s few industrial cities.

No doubt, Okpara was a giant who came ahead of his time. He was an extraordinary administrator and manager of men who left a legacy that has endured for decades. He had a great vision for the defunct Eastern Nigeria, a dream that is evident in his programmes and policies. In fact, he changed the face of social services forever in the South-East Region. He will always be remembered.

An excerpt from Essay, Dr Michael Okpara Centennial tribute from the same author

Obimba esq, a lawyer and public affairs commentator writes from Lagos.
[email protected], 08179251443

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