Imo At 50: APP Laments Lost Opportunities, Leadership Failures

The Action Peoples Party (APP) in Imo State has expressed deep regret over what it described as decades of lost opportunities, leadership failure and the desecration of the labour of the state’s founding fathers, as Imo State marks its 50th anniversary.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, and signed by the State Publicity Secretary of the party, Cajetan Duke, JP, the Hon. Ernest Njesi-led APP said the golden jubilee of Imo State should be a moment of “gratitude and sober reflection,” rather than mere celebration.

The party recalled that Imo State was created on February 3, 1976, under the administration of late Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed, noting that the state was born out of “the deep longing of our people for self-determination, dignity, and faster development.”

According to the APP, Imo was founded on “noble foundations: world-class education, agricultural transformation, industrialisation, vibrant commerce and hospitality, and the promise of technology-driven growth.”

However, the party lamented that many of the industrial legacies established under the late Chief Sam Mbakwe, the state’s first democratic governor, have collapsed.

It listed major projects such as the Aluminium Extrusion Industry in Inyishi, the Resin Paint Factory in Aboh Mbaise, the Paper Packaging Industry in Owerre-Ebiri, the Nsu Tiles and Ceramics Industry in Ehime Mbano, the Imo Modern Poultry Farm in Avutu, the Sacs Hercules Motorcycle Assembly Plant in Naze, and the clay brick and roofing tile industries in Okigwe zone.

“These once-thriving engines of jobs, skills, and wealth have become painful monuments to squandered opportunities and broken promises,” the party said, describing the facilities as “largely moribund, abandoned, or operating far below capacity.”

While acknowledging the ongoing week-long golden jubilee activities, including an interdenominational thanksgiving service, youth-focused quiz competitions, cultural displays and the planned investiture of 50 distinguished Imo sons and daughters, the APP said such events should not mask the harsh realities facing residents.

“Fifty years later, too many of our communities remain cut off by bad roads, our hospitals lack basic drugs and equipment, public schools struggle to produce the brilliant minds Imo was once known for,” the statement said.

It added that civil servants and pensioners were owed entitlements, market women and artisans face daily hardship, while insecurity continued to threaten peaceful living.

The party further criticised the state of local government administration in the State, saying it has been “stifled and incarcerated beyond pardon,” and rendered incapable of performing its constitutional responsibilities, despite increased federal allocations in recent years.

“This jubilee must not end with speeches and fanfare; it must mark the beginning of serious accountability and real change,” the APP declared.

According to the party, the best way to honour Imo’s past leaders is to build “a government that actually works for Imo people today,” with functional roads, quality healthcare, revitalised schools, prompt payment of salaries and pensions, and a secure environment for businesses to thrive.

Addressing Imo citizens directly, the APP said, “We see your struggles. We hear your quiet anger, your unspoken fears, and your burning hope for something better.”

The party pledged to stand with Imolites as the 2027 elections approach, expressing confidence in what it described as “clearcut and people-focused leadership” under Mazi Chima Matthew Amadi, Rt. Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere and other party leaders.

The statement concluded with a message of hope, insisting that Imo State’s vast potential can still be unlocked with transparent, responsive and results-driven governance.

“Happy Golden Jubilee, Imo State. Joy is coming,” the party stated.