Opinion: Will the Imo governor, Okorocha, ever stop this showmanship?

Posted by admin Headlines, Imo, State News Sunday, January 13th, 2013

At the peak of a landmark judgment of the Court of Appeal in Owerri returning the illegally sacked Local Government Councils in Imo state last July, the Imo state governor Rochas Okorocha declared an indefinite public holiday at the Local Government Council levels. Till date, no organized work is going on at the councils and allocations meant for the Local Government councils in Imo state remain unaccounted for by the governor.
On the day of the governor’s 50th day anniversary 2 to 3 months ago, Imo state was shut down as the governor declared another public holiday in the state to mark the event alongside his foundation’s 10th year anniversary. Just before the xmas holidays, the Imo governor declared another two weeks holiday in Imo state in addition to the nationally declared public holiday in the country to mark the xmas and New Year.

People questioned the rationale behind the two-week public holiday in the state without answer. But that answer has now been provided by the governor – to mark the traditional wedding of his daughter right now being beamed live on AIT.

It would be recalled that the Niger State’s Governor Babangida recently gave out two of her children in marriage. There was no television to give it a live braodcast. Vice President Sambo did the same thing, not even the Nigeria Television Authority carried the event in Kaduna live. Udenwa, former Imo governor and Peter Odili, former River state governor variously gave out their children in marriage while serving as governors. None of these men ever went for a live broadcast which costs millions of Naira.

While one would ask what is wrong in the governor towing the steps he did, it would be necessary to remind that a governor of a state holds the trust of the citizens of that state, therefore decorum is expected from him in all his dealings. At the moment, Imo state is running a retainership with three national television stations for a thirty minutes documentary weekly on each of them showing the world the same old and renovated projects carried out in the state by Governor Rochas Okorocha. My problem is that these productions graphically edited by his Rescue Organization and aired on these stations are all window-shopped embellishments lacking the realities on ground.
Time has come when our governor concentrates, like his colleagues in Lagos and Akwa Ibom, in the real and sincere provision of democratic dividends to Imo people and reduce, if not eliminating completely this persistent and constant showmanship he has made himself known for.
Finally, Governor Okorocha should, as a matter of discipline minimize his thuggery mentality and reduce in the now familiar controversies he is now courting. The worrying stories of regular brushes, fighting and beating up of people by his convoy are rather becoming disturbing. The other day it was at Enugu as widely reported that the governor punched an aide to Governor Peter Obi over a sitting position at a birthday event of Chief Alex Ekwueme. This was widely feasted upon and reported by the press. Again was his beating up of a cab operator in Owerri by his convoy on the excuse that the driver’s mechanically faulted vehicle blocked the way. Another was the merciless beating of a gate keeper at the government house simply because he was not fast enough to open the gate for the governor’s convoy. The most recent still before the public is his supervision of the assault on Senator Chris Anyanwu by his aides simply because the senator’s motorcade was moving ahead of his.
Whatever the excuse for this embarrassment from the Imo governor, suffice to say that the lawless ingenuity of the governor blinded his eyes to remember that watching his boys indulged in such a shameful act against a woman, and a senator of the federal republic of Nigeria, and a member of his own party – APGA.

Please dear Governor, grow up and show maturity in leadership.

Greg Nwadike wrote from Abuja and can be reached on greyviewstudios@yahoo.comwp_posts