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My dear people of Imo State,

On this historic occasion, my heart overflows with gratitude as I join you to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of our beloved state. Fifty years is more than a milestone. It is a moment of reckoning, an invitation to reflect, to take stock, and to look ahead with renewed purpose.

Since that defining Third of February 1976, Imo State has travelled a long, instructive, and often inspiring road. Our story has been shaped by courage, industry, resilience, and an unshakable belief in possibility. We have experienced seasons of great promise and seasons of profound trial. Yet through every challenge, the spirit of Ndị Imo has endured. Our presence here today is no accident; it is the result of God’s grace and the quiet, persistent labour of generations who refused to abandon hope in this land.

It is only just that we honour the pioneers who laid the foundations upon which we stand. The early architects of our statehood bore a responsibility they embraced with seriousness and sacrifice. Rear Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu provided discipline and order at a formative moment, while the legendary Sam Mbakwe infused governance with vision, compassion, and moral clarity. Their contributions and those of countless others who served Imo State with devotion, remain etched in our collective memory. History is always kinder to those who build than to those who merely occupy, and our builders deserve our deepest respect.

As we celebrate this golden jubilee, we also acknowledge the present. Imo State marks its fiftieth year under the stewardship of Governor Hope Uzodinma. It is fitting to recognise the efforts of his administration in sustaining the machinery of governance and ensuring continuity. Every era is judged by how it responds to the demands of its time, and this moment calls for steadiness, resolve, and foresight.

We have every reason to be proud of how far we have come. Yet pride must never give way to complacency. As a son of the soil and a stakeholder in our shared destiny, I remain convinced that Imo State’s most remarkable chapters lie ahead. There is vast room for growth, innovation, and broadly shared prosperity. The Imo of our highest aspirations, secure, productive, creative, and just, is not a distant dream. It is an attainable future, but only if we choose collective effort over division and long-term vision over short term comfort.

This anniversary must therefore be more than a celebration. It must be a recommitment. A recommitment to unity across political, communal, and generational lines. A recommitment to service, integrity, and shared responsibility. The task of building Imo State does not rest on government alone. It rests on all of us, at home and in the diaspora, bound together by memory, duty, and hope.

As we mark fifty years, let us renew our covenant with the future. Let us resolve to hand over a state better than we met it, one that offers opportunity to its young people, dignity to its elders, and peace to its communities.

I congratulate every son and daughter of Imo on this golden milestone. This is our story. This is our moment. And by God’s grace and the labour of our hands, the years ahead will shine even brighter.
Happy Golden Jubilee, Imo State. 

Ka Chineke mezie okwu.

Yours in service and solidarity,
Senator Ifeanyi Godwin Araraume, PhD

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By Akpo Ojo

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released a comprehensive assessment of Nigeria’s fintech landscape, outlining the priorities needed to sustain innovation, strengthen system integrity, and support the next phase of digital financial growth.

The report examines the scale and maturity of Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, highlighting the country’s leadership in real-time payments and the structural factors shaping recent growth.

It positions fintech innovation as a complementary force within the financial system, expanding access, efficiency, and reach, while preserving stability and resilience.Informed by surveys and extensive stakeholder engagement.

Furthermore, the report outlines practical policy directions to improve regulatory coordination, strengthen supervisory capability, and support responsible innovation, including cross-border scale.

It underscores interoperability, proportional regulation, and effective execution as critical enablers of sustainable ecosystem development.

The publication forms part of an ongoing series through which the CBN will continue to engage the financial sector, provide clearer regulatory direction, and support more coordinated execution. I

t is intended to serve as a shared reference point for banks, fintech firms, regulators, infrastructure providers, investors, and partners as Nigeria consolidates its position within the regional and global fintech landscape.

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By Emmah Uhieneh

The office of the Clerk to the National Assembly is not designed for comfort. It is designed for balance. Balance between urgency and procedure, between political will and administrative law, between the impatience of elected power and the slow discipline of institutions that must endure long after headlines fade.

For Kamoru Ogunlana, Esq., who marks one year in office this February, that balance has been less a theoretical challenge than a daily, practical test of judgement. As he noted during the induction of 785 new staff members, “Working in the National Assembly is more than a routine service; it is a calling that requires deep knowledge of legislative practice and procedures, high moral standards, and personal discipline.”

As head of the National Assembly bureaucracy, the Clerk occupies a uniquely sensitive space. He answers to the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives, each with its own rhythms, priorities and pressures.

At the same time, he presides over a bureaucracy that must function predictably, lawfully and fairly, regardless of political mood. His first year has therefore been an exercise in calibration rather than command.

One of the clearest arenas in which this balance has played out is the management of legislative operations. In a Parliament often criticised for delays or inefficiency, administrative bottlenecks quickly become political liabilities.

Ogunlana’s response has not been cosmetic fixes, but structural adjustments. Financial administration has been standardised, ensuring that standing imprest is disbursed equitably to directors and heads of departments. This seemingly technical intervention has had tangible effects. Committees function with fewer delays, directorates plan with greater certainty, and lawmakers receive more consistent administrative support.

Crucially, transparency and accountability have been elevated. Checks and balances have been strengthened across contract awards, procurements, postings, promotions and salary payments, all in strict adherence to the Public Procurement Act and public service rules.

Without a doubt, this is where bureaucracy quietly earns its right to exist: not by competing with politics, but by enabling it to work.

The same logic underpins Ogunlana’s push for parliamentary autonomy, particularly in relation to the ownership and management of the National Assembly complexes in Abuja and Lagos. While the issue is often framed as a political demand, it is equally a bureaucratic necessity. An institution that does not control its own assets struggles to fully control its operations.

By pursuing legislative reforms to vest these complexes in the National Assembly Management, Ogunlana has aligned political aspiration with administrative efficiency, reinforcing the legislature’s status as a truly co-equal arm of government. This effort builds on his broader call for reviewing the National Assembly Service Act to promote efficiency, while recognising the vital role of his management team in sustaining institutional progress.

It must be acknowledged that staff welfare has been another delicate frontier. In a Service shaped by years of constrained budgets, morale is not sustained by rhetoric. Under Ogunlana’s watch, salaries and allowances have been paid promptly, arrears from wage adjustments settled, and training expanded on an unprecedented scale.

Over 4,200 staff and legislative aides have been trained within the past year, many of them exposed to international best practices. Ongoing training and re-training have been prioritised to help the Service adapt to global changes, alongside the distribution of tools such as computer sets and laptops to better equip the workforce.

In reassuring over 3,000 legislative aides of job security and improved remuneration, Ogunlana has further demonstrated a commitment to staff welfare, including prompt salary payments and the settlement of outstanding allowances.

This emphasis on welfare has been paired with a consistent insistence on discipline and accountability. The message has been clear: welfare is not indulgence. It is an investment, one that must be matched by professionalism, competence and respect for institutional rules. This dual focus has helped steady the bureaucracy, preventing the drift that often follows welfare-focused reforms.

Still, the reality remains that the tension inherent in the office has not suddenly disappeared. Inadequate office space, limited budgetary allocation and outdated digital infrastructure remain stubborn constraints.

The Clerk’s acknowledgement that the digitalisation of administrative and legislative processes is long overdue is a stoic recognition of reality. A modern legislature cannot run on analogue systems, no matter how committed its leadership. To this end, Ogunlana has advanced ICT capabilities, equipping staff to become one of the most internet savvy parliamentary teams worldwide.

What distinguishes Ogunlana’s first year is not the absence of tension, but the manner in which it has been managed. Political demands have been engaged, not resisted. Bureaucratic rules have been upheld, not weaponised. Progress has been incremental, not theatrical.

To be fair, external assessments have echoed this approach. One commentary cited commendation from a senior figure associated with the United States Congress, highlighting Ogunlana’s “dedication to professionalism, competence, exemplary performance, sincerity of purpose, sense of direction, patriotic fervour, leadership focus, vigour, and fortitude.”

In the end, the strength of a democracy is not measured only by the laws it passes or the debates it broadcasts. It is also measured by the quiet competence of those who translate political intent into institutional action. As Ogunlana himself has stated, “Our democracy has continued to stabilise, with no threat of military intervention, and the National Assembly as an institution has grown stronger, more professional, and more responsive to the needs of the Nigerian people.”

One year in, the Office of the Clerk has shown that balancing political demands and bureaucratic realities is about ensuring that neither side of the equation overwhelms the system meant to serve the nation.

● Emmah Uhieneh is the Publisher of The Congresswatch magazine.