By Collins Ughalaa
Greed, according to the Oxford Dictionary means “A selfish or excessive desire for more than is needed or deserved, especially of money, wealth, food, or other possessions”. From this simple definition, it means that any man who craves for or acquires more wealth, money, food, etc, more than is needed is greedy. This meaning of greed does not give room for justification or comparative greed. Greed is greed. No comparison. No justification.
If you have seen Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, if you have known him in the last seven years, what you would see is a picture of a greedy person to the 10th degree. Okorocha is a rich man who loves to take from the poor. Some people say he is a sadist, that he does not like good things done to others; that he likes to be the only cock that crows. Okorocha, from what we have seen seems to be in a constant battle to overcome poverty, and in doing so he has allowed himself to be consumed by greed.
One incident aptly captures Okorocha’s greed. Imo people have not forgotten the Governor’s birthday in 2017. How many cakes did the Governor display on his birthday? 27 cakes. Did he need 27 cakes for his birthday? Did he “acquire more than was needed”?
The false story that Governor Okorocha was a billionaire before he ran for the governorship of the state in 2011 does not reflect on his pictures at the time and does not tally with the story in town that he was heavily indebted to banks at the time.
It does not reflect on how he ran his 2011 governorship election. Here we had a governorship candidate who collected money from every Dick, Tom and Harry, including hapless market women and keke operators for his 2011 governorship election. Some prominent politicians have confessed how they contributed money to the Governor for his 2011 governorship election. Some poor Imo market traders have also told stories of how they gave their money. No rich politician collects from both the poor and the rich.
It is open secret that prior to 2011 no one in Imo State could point at any investment belonging to Okorocha in the entire state, be it estates, filling stations, hotels, shopping malls, super markets, schools, charity homes, etc, that belonged to either Okorocha, his wife, in-laws, children, brothers or sisters. No one heard about Spibat or how Okorocha was a billionaire. Even his private school was a small place close to Control Post, Owerri, and did not attract much attention whether in terms of architectural design or multiplicity of buildings. It was such a simple place where some “indigent” children schooled.
Anyone in Imo State in 2011 or anyone who has the benefit of recent history will recall that Okorocha did not run the 2011 governorship election with the image of a rich man or billionaire; rather he wore the image of a philanthropist. It was the wind of philanthropy that swept Imo State away. But once he became Governor a shopping mall belonging to his daughter sprang up overnight in front of the Government House, whereas the said shopping mall was built with government fund. Next thing we heard was Okorocha’s hotels and before we could spell “Imo” we saw a massive estate called Spibat belonging to the Governor.
Okorocha was so poor prior to 2011 that he was chasing Dr. Ikedi Ohakim up and down, attending every function Ohakim was billed to attend as Governor. He got so many favours from Ohakim, including his appointment as the Chairman of the Imo State Education Trust Fund. Members of the Trust Fund, my former boss, Mr. Emma Agu, and Dr. Orikeze Ajumbe can confirm this. While Okorocha enjoyed his appointment, his sister, Mrs. Geraldine Obinali, was also appointed the Transition Committee Chairman of Ideato South LGA from the kind hearted Ohakim.
Though Governor Okorocha would want truths of this nature expunged from everyone’s memory and never told, but it is still in our memory that Okorocha also got assistance from Ohakim in cash and other forms for the burial of his mother. The billionaire Okorocha we see today is therefore the creation of Imo State Government House at the expense of the suffering masses.
Today Okorocha’s wealth has become an irritation. From a small place Okorocha’s Rochas Foundation now sits majestically on a large expanse of land hitherto belonging to the state called IBC in Orji. Today, the old stadium at Tetlow Road belonging to the state government is now Rochas Foundation Sports Academy. Okorocha’s wife now has an investment that sits majestically on state government’s Orlu Road Secretariat, now known as WODDI Center. She is said to now own massive estates and has therefore become an estate mogul. What of filling stations and shopping malls, including a gold shop, said to belong to her? This is not counting lands and investments belonging to their sons and daughters. In fact, Okorocha and his family now own more than half of the state, and everyone in the Okorocha family or anyone remotely related to them has now become inventors or estate moguls.
This attitude is in clear contrast to the attitude of former Governor Ikedi Ohakim who has shown that he is contented and not greedy. Ohakim was Governor of the state from 2007 to 2011 but nobody knew about his children. He did not acquire any public property to himself, wife, daughters, sons or cronies. He did not allocate a plot of land to himself. He did not grab anybody’s land. In fact, the plot of land allocated to him by his predecessor Chief Achike Udenwa at the highbrow Civic Center in Owerri, he gave it out to a prominent Imo son who needed a plot of land at the Civic Center. Imo people now say that if Ohakim had acquired public assets as Okorocha has done there might not have been anything left for him to acquire. But despite being Governor for four years, Ohakim still lives in his three bedroom bungalow, the only house he has in the whole of Owerri. This three bedroom bungalow was built in 1992 while he served as Commissioner and the land was allocated to him by Governor Evan Enwerem.
If anyone still does not understand Okorocha’s greed for wealth, he may consider his greed for power. How does it sound that a man would sit in the comfort of his house and single handedly decide who gets what in the 41 elective positions in the state on his party’s platform? It is needless to mention that Okorocha’s in-law, Uche Nwosu, was the Commissioner for Lands and later became his Chief of Staff. While this was going on he appointed other relations of his into different positions. Imo people did not worry so much, though the lamentation that Okorocha was running a familiocracy rented the air. The
current united opposition the Governor is receiving from everyone in Imo State is because he wants to hand over to his son in-law, who by Igbo culture is his son. By the same Igbo culture, since Uche Nwosu married the Governor’s first daughter he is regarded as the first son of the family, especially since he is older than the Governor’s biological first son.
To now compare this sad situation to what happened in the United States of America is to insult the sensibility of the entire Imo people. It should be pointed out very clearly that the situations in the US as noted by FCC Jones Onwuasoanya do not in any way resemble the situation we have in Imo State. For example, George Herbert Walker Bush, otherwise known as “Bush 41” or George Bush Senior, served as the 41st President of the US, from 1989 to 1993, after serving as the 43rd Vice President of the US from 1981 to 1989. He left office in 1993 but did not hand over to his son, George Walker Bush, who became the 43rd President of the US from 2001 to 2009, after serving as the 46th Governor of the state of Texas from 1995 to 2000. He rather took over from Bill Clinton who was the 42nd President of the US, from January 20, 1993, to January 20, 2001. Clinton too did not hand over to his wife Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton or in-law but to George Bush Jnr. There must be a reason or reasons Hilary Clinton did not run for the office of the President of the US to succeed her husband in 2001. She instead chose to run for that office fifteen years after her husband had left, in 2016.
In a classroom of 40 students not everyone will learn at the same speed. That is why teachers oftentimes repeat or recap what they had previously taught the students. For this reason, let it be reemphasized that had Uche Nwosu decided to run for the Senate of Orlu Zone, Imo people would not have bothered. Had he even ran for the House of Reps in his federal constituency, nobody would have worried himself. Had he even decided to tarry awhile and maybe run for the office of the governor of the state, say sixteen years after, nobody would have worried himself. But to think of succeeding his father in-law and thereby giving Orlu Zone another eight years in office as governor is the reason both Uche Nwosu and Governor Okorocha are up against the rest of the state.
It is not as if we have forgotten that Governor Okorocha in 2011 gave the only ministerial slot for the state to his in-law, Prof A.G Anwukah. He had appointed “his blood sister” Deputy Chief of Staff and later Commissioner for Happiness and Purpose (sorry, Couples) Fulfillment. While she was serving in these capacities, her husband was also serving as the local government chairman of Owerri North. The Governor also appointed other blood relations into public offices but Imo people did not so much bother.
Furthermore, in Kwara State, while Dr. “Bukola Saraki was Governor of Kwara State, his blood sister was the Senator representing Kwara Central in the Senate”, wrote FCC Jones, but Saraki refused to hand over to “his blood sister”, Gbemisola Saraki in 2011 but instead chose an outsider, Abdulfatah Ahmed, to succeed him. This led to serious rift between father, son and daughter, because while their father wanted Bukola Saraki to hand over to “his blood sister”, the then outgoing Governor disobeyed his father and chose someone else. There has never been a situation in Nigeria or elsewhere where a governor handed over to his son, wife, brother or sister in a democracy. It is an aberration.
Therefore, as far as Imo people are concerned, it is capital NO for Uche Nwosu. It is an abomination for him to succeed his father in-law. Imo people cannot let it happen. And, of course, the Governor and his lackeys cannot force it down the throat of the people. The people must prevail.
. Collins Ughalaa wrote in from Orlu