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The hottest topic in Imo State, South-East Nigeria today is probably how a certain Rochas Ethelbert Anayo Okorocha, an inconsequential factor in Imo politics prior to 2011, is scheming to perpetuate himself in power by proxy. The man whom the masses of Imo State in 2011 contributed their widow’s mite to prosecute his campaign and chose ahead of the then incumbent Governor Ikedi Ohakim, now thinks himself a god. Having undergone some sort of self-apotheosis, this handmade god now believes he knows better and has more powers than all the Imo people put together.
Okorocha’s only selling point in 2011 was that he had given many indigent children a chance to go to school through his Rochas Foundation Colleges. That may well be so. But there is a longstanding question I have raised that I am yet to get a convincing answer to: how was/is Rochas Foundation funded? The conventional practice is that a successful business precedes a foundation. In other words, a successful businessperson looks back at the way he/she has come and decides, “Oh, the society has given me so much, it is time to give back.” For example, there was Microsoft before Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, there was Dangote Group before Dangote Foundation, there was United Bank for Africa before Tony Elumelu Foundation, and so on ad infinitum. So, can someone tell me the successful business empire that preceded Rochas Foundation? Or is the Foundation the business itself?
Okorocha’s predecessor Ikedi Ohakim, though swallowed up by personal greed, fell victim to Christendom’s vindictiveness. He was never forgiven of allegations that he beat up a Catholic priest. Okorocha was a direct beneficiary of that vindictiveness, but before he bowed out, Ohakim did tell Imo people that they would regret that choice. Now the chickens have come home to roost and, like the frogs in Aesop’s Fables, Imo people have suddenly realised that they were better off with King Log than they are now with King Stork – or, more appropriately, that they merely exchanged a dog for a monkey. Like the frogs, in mournful croaks the masses of Imo State are now begging Jupiter to take away the cruel tyrant before they are all destroyed, but the tyrant-king himself says, “No, not yet. I’ll leave, but not before planting my beloved son-in-law in my stead.”
If you are a keen follower of recent political developments in Imo State, then you must have heard of the phrase “incestuous democracy”. If you haven’t, well, that’s the exact phrase His Grace, Anthony J. V. Obinna, Archbishop of Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, used to describe the plot by Governor Okorocha to foist his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, on Imo people as his successor in 2019.
Before now we used to hear of ‘familocracy’. Orji Uzo Kalu, two-time governor of Abia State, one of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) modern-day saints and self-appointed spokesperson of the Muhammadu Buhari government in the South-East, was the arrowhead of that system of government. I think Ohakim borrowed a leaf from that system when he appointed Emma Ohakim, his younger brother, as chief of staff. But being more devious, Okorocha has taken it several notches higher.
Why does Okorocha want his son-in-law to succeed him? We can hazard a guess. Uche Nwosu is no ordinary son-in-law. He is a most-loyal son-in-law who owes everything to his amiable father-in-law. Every of this son-in-law’s work experience seems to have been under this father-in-law. Nwosu, who graduated from Imo State University, Owerri in 2000, was personal assistant to Okorocha as president of Rochas Foundation; personal assistant to Okorocha when as special adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on inter-party relations; director of finance, and later national secretary, of Action Alliance, Okorocha’s personal political party; personal assistant to Okorocha as president of the Nigerian Red Cross Society; and later, deputy chief of staff to Okorocha as founder, Rochas Foundation.
Then Imo State Government House happened in 2011 and Nwosu, expectedly, became Okorocha’s Man Friday. He has since then moved from deputy chief of staff (operations) to commissioner for lands, to supervisory commissioner for special duties, to chief of staff, to son-in-law by virtue of marrying Okorocha’s first daughter Uloma, and now to his father-in-law’s anointed successor.
So, when Imo people say no to Okorocha’s brazen moves, it is easy to align with their fears. It is only a blind fellow that will not see how electing Uche Nwosu, or any candidate endorsed by Okorocha, as governor in 2019 would simply amount to a third term for Okorocha.
But promoters of this absurdity say Nwosu is the best qualified for the job – that in itself is a big insult to the Imo populace – because at below the age of 50, he is “young and has age on his side so he can inspect projects without getting arthritis”. Let them take a trip to Kogi and tell us what Yahaya Bello’s youthfulness has achieved for that state. Steve Asimobi, a remnant of the Ohakim tragedy who now works for Okorocha as special adviser on electoral matters, was even proudly telling Nigerians on Channels TV that “the governor has given quality reasons why he will not hand over power to anybody who is above 50 years of age”. So, it is now Okorocha’s constitutional mandate to decide whom he will hand over power to. Absolute power truly does corrupt absolutely. But my question to Asimobi is this: if Imo were his personal company, would he make Nwosu its CEO?
Many Imo people I have interacted with recently think Okorocha is the biggest joker of the decade. They may well continue to enjoy the joke, but I do see a desperate man who has foreseen the eclipse of his political career and will stop at nothing to maintain his stranglehold. How, for instance, does one explain the new order for all “leviable adults” in the 637 autonomous communities in the state to pay a “development levy” of N3,000 each? Only a credible alternative and a determined Imo people can prove a potent antidote to the Okorocha poison.
CHUKS OLUIGBO
