Article: Down With Governor Okorocha's Government Of Thieves

Governor Rochas Okorocha

By Kenneth Uwadi

Officially and publicly, Governor Okorocha has not announced his intention to remain in power beyond May 2015, his terminal period as Governor under the military imposed 1999 constitution. Notwithstanding his ostrich game on this issue, all key economic and political features and manipulations going on under the regime clearly point only in one direction – his quest to remain  in power beyond May, 2015.

Few weeks ago as a campaign strategy for 2015, he announced free education for all Imo State owned tertiary institutions. Ordinarily Imolites would have stormed the Streets in celebration for this announcement. This would have been  a good news if not for the antecedent of the Governor who has a  long and prodigious history of fabrications. He has made a name for himself as okwu  ozo eme ozo, one who says A and will be doing Z. He is notorious for not fulfilling promises.

False claims and inaccuracies, like this one, padded Okorochas’s speeches. It is the same Okorocha that has been dominating the Pages of Newspapers and televisions in the name of free education in Imo State since  year 2011 .  How come it is just few weeks ago that he declared it? For  more than 3 years his  fake free education advertorials have  been running in several Newspapers and television  in Nigeria including in Hausa and Yoruba tabloids, that’s not all, bill boards of several sizes are mounted in faraway places like Sokoto, Kwara, Kano, Borno  and Lagos, while Radio Stations in Osun, Ogun , Zamfara states are daily singing his praises not only as a performing Governor but one who has  more than the needed credentials to take over from President Jonathan  when nothing tangible is on the ground in Imo State.

To me, the mark of a true gentleman is the courage or ability to stand by his words/utterances even if it means being vilified, condemned or crucified. There is not an iota of virtue in our Governor.When he became Governor in 2011, he claimed there was no 10,000 jobs created by Ikedi Ohakim. He lied . He also told us that Ohakim was corrupt and that he will probe him for looting Imo. Again he lied. He also lied about the N26.8 billion handed over to him by Ohakim . He lied to us about who bought Adalpam Nigeria Ltd. He bought Adapalm. He also lied to us that there was 3.5 billion naira proceeds from the sale/lease of Adalpam. 

He never paid a dime for Adapalm.His company Roche paid nothing for Adapalm.

lies after lies from this utter fraud of a man. He has been claiming all over TV and Radio that he has built 27 General Hospitals when all the project are below 10% completion. He lied that he gave 1 billion naira to each LGA in Imo state for projects. He lied about Jude Agbaso ,  Josph Dino of jpros Limited and Imo tax payers N1.3 billion naira. He lied about Joss Marinlopez-pepe and Imo tax payers N3.5 billion. He lied that he has cleared pension debts in Imo. He lied about minimum wage for Imo workers. He has being lying to the people that he will conduct  LGA elections in the State.

Biblical Ananias is reputed to be the greatest liar on earth. He sold his plot of land and connived with Sapphira, his wife to send only part of the amount to the Apostles. The two pocketed the rest for their own use and told lies. But the deed was discovered by Spirit filled Peter who rebuked the husband Immediately. Governor Okorocha is enacting a similar script. For one thing, he lied through his campaign for Governor in 2010 and with his elevation to the position of Governor he has became a liar on a gargantuan scale. In fact, lying is now his second nature. Not a day passes without Imolites  hearing one false statement or utterances from either the Governor  himself or his acolytes.

Today, public schools in Imo , from primary to tertiary levels are delapidated and managed mostly by under-remunerated  and underfunded personnel yet Okorocha is claiming free education. Worse still, the majority of Imo graduates  will never be able to get any job for rather than give jobs Okorocha has sacked thousands of graduates and so many of our graduates thus will remain condemned to the life of crimes, frauds, prostitution, etc.

In Imo, Rochas is the contractor, the accountant, the work foreman, the supervisor, the legislature, the secretary, and any and all there is. Imo has collapsed  under such plan because no one has learned to do anything under him. He is LGA chairman  and the head of community chiefs. He is the farmer, the farm, and the tractor. All because he does not want another Imo person that is not from his family to enjoy the oil money he collects or get seen to be doing good work. He wants every  and all credits to himself. He  said he has tarred roads, built stadium.,cleaned gutter, built hotels, arrested armed robbers, and kidnappers, only him is seeing his so called good work  in Imo. What government can perform under this condition? Yet we have millions of unemployed graduates with degrees and knowledge he (Rochas)cannot present.

We say NO to this government of thieves. A man who squandered all the huge funds allocated monthly to the 27 local Government areas in Imo State since May 2011 that is well above N132 billion naira is a thief. There is no development in any of the 27 Local Government Areas of Imo State since Owelle came in to power.No Hospitals, Schools, Markets, bore holes for water or any rural electrifications  etc in any autonomous community in Imo State in over three years of the life of this administration. The only roads in the rural areas of Imo are those built by unsuspecting contractors/individuals with their hard earned money that is now begging for regularization and payment.

We say No to a man who looted N26.8 billion handed over to him by the past administration. What is the stage of work at the Oguta blue lake of treasure as renamed? Now covered by grass. What has happened to the Marine Police approved as a result of the wonder lake? Is a man who looted over N16 billion 13% (derivation) allocated to Imo State oil producing Areas Dev. Commission (ISOPADEC)since May 2011 not a thief?

Under the guise of privatisation and commercialisation, the collective wealth and resources of the Imo society have been bought by Governor Okorocha. He bought Adalpam Nigeria Ltd. He bought IROMA trucks and equipment valued at N12.5 Billion. He bought our General Hospitals & Health   Centres as well as ITC.

To start with, the polity under Okorocha is the most corrupt. This is largely due to two related factors. One, the huge income being sent by FG as allocation to Imo  and two, the abdication of all commitment towards social spending, have left the government with huge unprecedented revenue. Quite naturally, most of these resources only end up in the private pockets of  the thieves in government. Where is the $2.5 M dollars paid for the lease of Imo Concorde Hotel?

What happened to the proceeds of the lease of our General Hospital? What happened to N45 billion loan secured from Zenith Bank with the allocation of the 27 local government of Imo as collateral? What of the N200,000.00 (Two Hundred Million) each said to be given to the T.C chairmen from the said N45 Billion loan for the purposes of construction of the hospitals in the 27 L.G.A.’s? Where is the supposed 3.5 billion naira  proceeds from the sale/lease of Adalpam.Where is Josph Dino of jpros Limited and Imo tax payers N1.3 billion naira? Where is Joss Marinlopez-pepe and Imo tax payers N3.5 billion? This is the time to save Imo State.

(Uwadi wrote from Mmahu-Egbema, Imo State ,Nigeria)