In Imo, the renewed transformation of hope is real

From the dilapidated Owerri-Okigwe highway that once broke boards and spirits to the revived FUTO teaching hospital now receiving referrals, and from the renovated College of Education now reborn as a university to the Sam Mbakwe Airport handling more cargo than ever, this roving journalist has found that the synergy between the federal state under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Hope Uzodimma is bringing visible, measurable and deeply felt change by the common people of Imo.

I know a guy who has driven the Owerri-Okigwe road more times than I care to count. Every trip was a gamble. It said you could leave Owerri in the morning, hoping to reach Okigwe before noon, only to spend half the journey dodging craters that looked like bomb craters. Trucks loaded with palm oil and sweet potatoes would be left stranded, their axles broken, while passengers would get out to push or find alternative routes through dusty paths. The flooding was particularly severe in low-lying areas near Anara. After a heavy downpour, the road disappeared entirely, leaving commuters wading through murky waters, goods hoisted above their heads. Accidents were routine. He recalled a fatal accident in 2021 involving a tanker that had slid down a pothole and caught fire. That image stayed with me.

Today that same stretch is almost unrecognizable. The reconstruction, which began in November 2020 under Governor Hope Uzodimma’s Agenda 3R, has transformed the 56-kilometre federal highway into a smooth, well-drained roadway with clear lane markings and reinforced shoulders. I rode it last week and timed it: Owerri to Okigwe, just over an hour. No swerve. No prayers. No rescue mission. The same goes for the Owerri–Mbaise–Umuahia road, which is also a nightmare with eroded asphalt and missing culverts. Now, traders in Mbaise can transport their poultry and cassava to Umuahia without losing half their supplies due to delays and difficult manoeuvres. A transport union official I spoke to at the Owerri car park told me his members are saving at least 15,000 naira a week on tire repairs and replacements. This is real money in the pockets of ordinary people.

But the roads are just the beginning. During my tour, I stopped at the College of Education, now in the final stages of its transformation into a full-fledged university. The difference isn’t just in the sign. Walking around the campus I saw new conference blocks being built, laboratories being set up with modern tools and a library being digitised. A teacher who has taught there for 18 years told me, with visible emotion, that the update had restored morale among the teachers. “We were always treated like second class,” he said. “We are now part of the national university system. Our research can be published. Our students can compete.” The synergy of the federal state on this project, as underlined by the Hon. Declan Emelumba, Imo Commissioner for Information and Strategy, and highlighted by Tunde Rahman, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Special Duties to the President, was critical. The federal government provided political support and part of the funding, while the state managed the implementation. It’s a model that other states should study.

From there I headed to the Federal University of Technology Owerri teaching hospital, which is undergoing a major renovation. I spent an afternoon walking around the wards and talking to patients and staff. The hospital had fallen into such disrepair that many residents had given up on it, choosing instead to travel to Enugu or even Lagos for specialist treatment. Now the renovation is visible everywhere: new diagnostic equipment, renovated operating rooms, a functioning blood bank and an emergency room that actually has supplies. A young mother I met in the pediatric ward told me that she had brought her son suffering from severe malaria, waiting to be admitted to a private clinic. Instead, he received timely treatment and the child was recovering well. “This time I didn’t have to sell my furniture,” she said, laughing through tears. The hospital management also confirmed that the renovation allowed the resumption of postgraduate medical training, which had been suspended for years. It’s not just about bricks and mortar; it’s about saving lives and training the next generation of doctors.

My last stop was Cargo Sam Mbakwe International Airport. For years this airport has been a symbol of wasted potential. I remember arriving by plane a few years ago and being greeted by a broken conveyor belt and porters who had to carry luggage manually. Today rehabilitation is unmistakable. The runway has been resurfaced, the terminal has been expanded and the cargo section is now functional, handling agricultural exports to other parts of Nigeria and beyond. I spoke to a fruit and vegetable exporter who was loading a consignment of bitter leaves and dried fish to be shipped to Lagos. He told me that the airport’s revitalization had reduced his logistics costs by almost a third. “I used to have to ship the goods by road and they would arrive ruined or damaged. Now I can fly them out fresh and get better prices.” The airport also attracts new airlines, which means more competition and lower fares for passengers.

What struck me most during this tour was not the scope of the projects but the coherence. Each development feeds the other. The roads make it easy to reach the airport. The university provides the skilled labor that will maintain the hospital and manage the airport’s logistics. The university hospital guarantees the health of its staff. And the airport brings the investments that support them all. This is integrated planning, the kind we rarely see in Nigeria, where projects are often announced with great fanfare and then abandoned. Here the continuity is palpable. Bayo Onanuga, Special Advisor to the President on Information and Strategy. State governments are partnering with the central government to provide critical road infrastructure across the country and may not necessarily be reimbursed for road projects because states see value in the way the President Tinubu-led federal government has created fiscal reserves for them. That clarification, which initially seemed like a technical detail, now makes perfect sense on the field. This means that the federal government does not simply approve Abuja projects; is actively planning its delivery, with technical supervision and quality assurance that meet national standards. This is a departure from the old reimbursement system, which often trapped states in endless paperwork and delays.

To be sure, there are challenges. Some sections of the roads still need repairs. The modernization of the university is not yet fully completed. The hospital still lacks some specialized equipment. And the airport could use more cargo-handling infrastructure. But the trajectory is unmistakably upward. The people I met along the way, from the transport union official to the teacher, from the young mother to the agricultural exporter, expressed cautious optimism. They’ve been disappointed in the past, but they also recognized that something different is happening this time. They mentioned Governor Uzodimma’s practical approach and President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda with a mix of hope and expectation, not as political slogans but as tangible forces that improved their daily lives.

As a traveling reporter, I saw development projects across Nigeria that promised much and delivered little. Too often the ribbon cutting represents the end and not the beginning. What I witnessed in Imo is different. It is still in progress and the final chapters have not been written. But the foundations are solid, the coordination is real and the benefits are already flowing to people. The roads, the university, the hospital and the airport are not isolated creations; they are the pillars of a broader vision. This vision, if sustained, could transform not only Imo but the entire South East and beyond. For now, Imo people are enjoying the fruits of that vision, and from what I have seen, they are not taking it for granted. The rest of Nigeria shouldn’t either.