The political rivalry in Imo State
is reminiscent of a dramatic form which depicts the circumstances surrounding
the fall of despots. The state has been in dire need of such a dramatic
conflict, blighted by a long history of poor leadership.
*Okorocha |
Of the lot, Rochas Okorocha’s lame-duck administration has attracted the greatest outrage and caused serious embarrassment to the indigenes of the state. By a fortunate turn of events, Okorocha is now grappling with the fate of despotic leaders, following his humiliating defeat in the ward congresses of the All Progressive Party (APC). He cleverly avoided the local government congresses that followed to forestall a deepening of an unpleasant situation.
Contrary to his claim of paying the price for his role in APC’s tenure
elongation saga, Okorocha’s tribulations stem from his quest to perpetuate
himself in power by pushing for a successor whose only qualification is being
his son-in-law as well as his dismal performance in office. What he is up
against is nemesis, which, for deserving persons, is not only inevitable but
also irreversible. Okorocha’s attempt to alter this fate is certain to be his
last performance on the State’s political rostrum. It is a prelude to his
quitting the stage as party leader, politician of note and an enigmatic
political godfather.
Okorocha probably thinks that Imo State
has become an extension of his Rochas Foundation. The fellow he favours to
govern the State lacks the credentials to win a councillorship election. This
son-in-law of his rose to his current status through exploiting opportunities
at his disposal rather than hard work. The Urban and Regional Planning graduate
is said to have secured employment in Rochas Foundation by the grace of Okorocha’s
now estranged aide. There, he got close to Okorocha’s daughter and married her.
Then, he got very close to his father-in-law, through whose grace he got into
the State’s executive council and through whom he wants to secure the
governorship ticket on a silver platter.
Happily, Okorocha’s plan of having a
son-in-law succeed him while he takes the Orlu senatorial seat has become a
pipe dream. He has been taught that Imo people are not as docile as he
imagines. Surprisingly, the architect of “funny politics” is embittered that he
is trapped in a web he crafted and which his opponents have endured with
stoicism over the years. He has turned into an apostle of democracy,
proselytising about the same principles that he has always trampled upon He
wants an election he never participated in annulled for no better reason than
that he failed to retain his hold on the party, which foreshadows what awaits
him at the party’s primaries as well as next year’s general elections.
It is hard to believe that Okorocha, who commenced
his tenure as a man of the people, has through his own error of judgement
destroyed his political career. His early days in office witnessed
people-centred projects, raising the hope that his administration was truly on
a mission to rescue a State destroyed by bad leaders. At his inauguration, he
pleasantly surprised everyone by sacrificing his entire security vote, which
other beneficiaries jealously guard, for human capital development. He also
initiated and completed some developmental projects including network of roads
in the capital city and other parts of the State.
Thereafter, Okorocha, like those before him,
drifted into dictatorship forgetting he had only been given a temporary custody
of an office which belongs to the people. His shift from a liberal to an
authoritarian leader had telling effect on democratic structures and the
welfare of the governed. First, the State legislative House was reduced to a
puppet show to pave the way for the passing of executive bills without
questioning. Just as puppets are controlled from external sources, so has the
House been manipulated by the executive arm to its advantage.
With the weakening of the legislature,
Okorocha assumed the status of a superman. His irritating actions and inactions
on assuming excessive political powers are too well known to deserve any
elaboration. Among these are the flooding of the State’s executive council with
his relations; the construction of statues of discredited African leaders with
tax payers’ money; the creation of bizarre ministries; the demolition of
churches, markets, as well as acquisition of land without compensation; and his
refusal to conduct local government elections for seven years. The ease with
which all these and more received the blessing of the rubber stamp legislature
speaks volumes about the quality of those that represent Imo State
in State and national assemblies.
Okorocha also served up nothing to Imo people
but poverty by his refusal to pay workers’ salaries, pension, and contract
fees. So badly has the State been enveloped in penury that every face therein
tells a pathetic story of despair. The controversial Happiness Ministry was
apparently conceived to plant cosmetic smiles on the faces of the socially and
economically deprived. The ministry is an eloquent admission by Okorocha of his
failure to deliver the goods of democracy, which naturally make and keep the
electorate happy. The recent mass promotion of workers was similarly aimed at
inducing a collective amnesia in a workforce that has suffered untold hardship
for years. Coming in an election year, it is also a ploy to lure workers to
vote for him and his son-in-law.
The passivity of the State’s legislative arm
in the face of these atrocities attracted so much sympathy to the State from
Nigerians of different extractions and creeds; and compelled some of them to
assume the role of unacknowledged legislators of Imo State .
But for such professional bodies as the Council of Registered Engineers of
Nigeria (COREN), which voluntarily took up the oversight functions in respect
of road and flyover bridge constructions, the world may never have known that
what has been going on in the name of flyover bridges in the State are death
traps.
After the silencing of the legislature, came the ban imposed on correspondents
of certain media outfits from the Government House thereby denying the people
the right to know the truth about the activities of those they elected into
office. In the place of the correspondents, a team of panegyrists was assembled
to air falsehood on national televisions about an imaginary rescue mission. The
pipers were also saddled with the arduous task of deluding Nigerians into
believing that their benefactor is a philanthropist. But I digress.
The members of Imo State
chapter of APC, whose gallantry has rescued the State from one of their own and
his cherished son-in-law, deserve commendation. That they achieved this feat in
the face of incumbency powers and the hatchet men stationed as caretaker
committee members in the 27 local governments of the State, demonstrates a
rejection of their opponent and all he represents. Had Okorocha survived the
fury of his party men, he certainly would have received a greater shock in the
hands of Imo State electorate.
As Okorocha and his relations prepare to quit
the political podium, the intellectual elite in the State must rise and seize
the political space. The idea of leaving party politics to charlatans and money
bags to either impose people of questionable characters on the State or give
the electorate the difficult task of choosing a one-eyed man among the blind
must stop.
• Dr Nnadi, a former editor and member, editorial boards of several national dailies, wrote fromLagos .
• Dr Nnadi, a former editor and member, editorial boards of several national dailies, wrote from
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