Amosun, Okorocha and the Wages of Greed
Prior to the primaries of the All Progressives Congress, I watched Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State on television, dishing out orders at the state’s APC stakeholders meeting in Abeokuta. The bemused stakeholders watched him anointing his choice for governor and announcing himself as the candidate for Ogun Central Senatorial seat. It was “powerful” Amosun in action, singlehandedly picking APC candidates for all elective positions in the state.
For Amosun, those opposed to his dictatorship can as well go to hell. Well, his opponents did not go to hell; they simply pulled the rug from under his feet, leaving him stranded. His anointed governorship candidate, Adekunle Akinlade, has been thrown into the deep blue sea by APC leaders in Abuja. The powerful Amosun has now been consumed by superior powers. He wanted everything but he may end up with nothing. The news in town is that he is planning to move his anointed candidates to one of the fringe political parties. Emperor Amosun looks set to burn all his fingers with his gluttony.
The other Emperor in Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, is desperate to have his son- inlaw, Uche Nwosu, succeed him as governor. He also wants a senatorial seat for himself. Just like Amosun, Okorocha wants to determine APC candidates for all elective positions in the state. Greedy Okorocha is also struggling for survival as the Hope Uzodinma gang wrestles him. Already, they have taken the governorship ticket away from his anointed candidate.
Okorocha is plotting plan B for his anointed governorship candidate. However, he looks good to fail again. This governor has no iota of credibility in the state. I am shocked that he is even dreaming of producing the next governor of Imo State despite his acrimonious tenure. No single individual has ever inflicted this much pain on the hapless people of Imo State as Okorocha did in almost eight years.
The cataclysmic Okorocha government turned Imo State to a big mess. No one will forget in a hurry the ruthless demolition of the famed Eke-ukwu Owerri Market, in spite of a subsisting court order. Imo, under Okorocha, has become a failed state, with the government unable to meet its basic responsibilities to the citizens. Facilities in the health, education and other sectors have collapsed. In Okorocha’s Imo, civil servants have huge backlog of unpaid salaries. Imo State retirees are also wallowing in poverty, due to enormous unpaid annuities. All these have resulted in so much poverty in this largely “civil servant” state.
The limited resources of this state are being squandered amid poverty. A good example is when this governor suddenly crops up with an aircraft, said to have been acquired with the funds of the suffering masses of the state. He then went about celebrating, with the impression that this was capable of turning around the fortunes of the state. The impact of Imo Air is yet to be felt. What about Okorocha’s ludicrous trip to Turkey, with about 100 of his cronies, supposedly to study that country’s industrial magic? How much has Imo gained from the lavish trip? This governor has glaringly turned Imo State into a family business and personal property. His family members occupy key positions and get juicy contracts.
Top businessmen, members of the academia, technocrats, retired senior military officers, as well as other professionals of Imo State origin have joined the noble movement against Okorocha, using the platform of Imo Economic Development Initiative. It is pleasing that this formidable opposition to Okorocha is coming less than a year to the election of a new governor. This time around, Imo State has to put forward its best hand for governor to halt the anguish in the state.
The Metropolitan Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Diocese, Rev. Anthony Obinna, was apt when he said, “Jesus Christ is always there to restore confidence and give courage to those who are in fear. For some years in the past, Imo citizens have been living in fear because of bad government. It is absurd and undemocratic for the governor to anoint his son-in-law to succeed him while his daughter will succeed his wife as first lady. Christ has liberated us by His death on the cross; therefore, no person can overturn what God has done.”