Imo: Serving Rochas The Attention He Doesn’t Deserve 

But each time we’ve picked up our pad and tuned our SwiftKey board, disgust and nausea at the rememberance and recall of the evil and wicked legacy Rochas left in the State drain out our cerebra and our ink.

The question kept resonating in our lobes, “Is Rochas worth it?” And the repeated answer: “No! Rochas isn’t worth any response. He is in the Old Testament of Imo politics, and indeed Nigerian politics”!

However, to ensure that nobody that should remember Rochas for his inhumanity to Imo humanity, remembers him for his evil and wickedness, we later reluctantly mustered current to say one or two things about the Rochas we know.

First, Rochas lacks every moral, physical or spiritual right to join in any talk about Imo State, his constitutional rights notwithstanding. He should be seen but never be heard!

Second, Rochas came, saw and did everything humanly possible to conquer Imo State and Imo people, and enslave them as his hypnotized captives or indeed prisoners of war.

Third, Rochas deployed enough violence in Imo State to foist his son-in-law, the very husband of his very first daughter, upon Imo people as his successor-in-office, while at the same securing his ill-fated journey to the Nigerian Senate by the barrels of a double-barrel short gun.

Now, as if his evil and wickedness against Ndimo in Imo State weren’t enough, Rochas wasted four years of Imo State, particularly of Orlu Zone, in the Senate, having nothing to show for it. Not even a single constituency project!

Rochas contributed nothing to the senate, either. The only time he was reported to have stood up to contribute anything in the senate was the day he most unpatriotically demarketed Imo State as the Nigerian capital of insecurity.

That was about two years ago. In that very shameful outing, Rochas cut his nose to spite his face. In his mission to hurt and harm His Excellency, Distinguished Senator Hope Uzodimma, the Executive Governor of Imo State, Rochas poured shame and disgrace all over himself.

We gather that his fellow Senators were appalled at Rochas for how he could stand up in the hallowed Red Chambers of the National Assembly to disparage his own State. And he knew that he was silently mocked and taunted by other Senators, who were obviously contributing to the growing and developing of their home States, and not undermining, ridiculing and discrediting their States.

But that was Rochas for you!

After wasting those precious four political years in Abuja, Rochas sneaked into the State few days ago and called a press conference, where he deemed it fit to attack the State and his governor with provocative utterances about the security situation in the State.

We say Rochas sneaked into Imo State because it was unlike Rochas to land at Sam Mbakwe Airport, without any _kpakam_ of noise by those who at his deceptive hey days would have converged at the airport and sing him assorted songs of praise and worship. Papa Rochas!

This was that Rochas who publicly confessed buying his guber ticket for billions of naira and paid full in cash, boasting arrogantly that he owed nobody anything because he had paid in full for his guber position and office.

This was that Rochas who looted hundreds of billions of naira via highly over-inflated contracts, fronting dubious business corporations as his accomplices.

Ndimo vividly remember and recall Zigreat Construction Company of 5 Ugbele Ideato South, with which Rochas claimed to have constructed a storey building with N670 million!

Ndimo remember the contractor that was reported to have vanished into thin air with N39 billion transfered into his account, without tipping a grain of sand at the construction site!

Ndimo remember how Rochas claimed to have constructed the two storey building that he donated to the Nigeria Police for N3.2 billion!

How many can we talk about and how many do we leave out!

Rochas was even wicked to himself and his kith and kin in Ideato South LGA of Imo State, where there’s not a single motorable road today!

Ideato nation, comprising Ideato North and Ideato South LGAs, will eternally see Rochas as a prodigal son that wasted his h in s father’s wealth; a billy goat that raped its own mother!

Ordinarily, Ideato nation should be Dubai of Southeast Nigeria today. But that part of Imo State and Southeast Nigeria, is counted among the worst slums out there!

If Rochas left Ideato nation so impoverished with physical development and socio-economic amenities, then why should anyone express surprise, shock and worry that he left the rest of Imo State in severe desolation and poverty?

The then short time governor, who was actually the ex-Deputy Speaker, Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to probe Rochas.

When it became very necessary that Ihedioha must go and Uzodimma must come, the Panel was adopted by the new governor, and they continued probing Rochas to a logical conclusion.

The White Paper from the Panel indicted Rochas, but was short of calling him a thief, out of both fear and respect for a convicted criminal.

The Panel recommended the retrieval and recovery of the N40 billion worth State-owned university that Rochas built with Imo State money and resources, but later converted it into his private university. And Governor Uzodimma complied with the directives of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry.

That wasn’t all!

Rochas was also to be stripped of his claims to ownership of some 1000 land and landed property that actually belonged to the Government and people of Imo State. Governor Uzodimma obey the Panel on this too!

Expectedly, Rochas took offence and did everything humanly possible to undermine ndad discredit Governor Uzodimma for fulfilling his promises to Ndimo, and recovering much of what Rochas rogued away from the State.

Pundits have been asking whether Rochas isn’t counted among the major sponsors of insecurity and agents of insecurity in the State, arguing that Rochas has every reason to join and team up in making Imo State ungovernable!

It was, therefore, most provocative that a Rochas, who did add any finger or word of assistance to stem the tide of insecurity in the State when unknown gunmen and agents of insecurity ran riot in the State, was suddenly showing belated, useless interest in the nearly ended war against unknown gunmen and agents of insecurity in the State.

Instructively, just as Rochas on the floor of the senate begged the Federal Government of Nigeria to intervene the security challenges in the State, so he did in his pinchomic interview at his questionably acquired Spibtat Estate, Owerri.

Why is Rochas begging the Federal Government, which is very much aware of the poor, negative of the Rochas they know, who can’t attract anything from the Federal Government?

Rochas was reported to have said that he was weeping for Imo State because of high rate and level of insecurity in the State, begging for opportunity to meet with Governor Uzodimma and discuss the security situation in the State!

Rochas forgot that he had begged profusely in the past for Governor Uzodimma to return the recovered property unlawfully and illegally looted and grabbed by Rochas, but was denied with a befitting NO!

It’s obvious that there’s a lot of things to talk about in negative terms about Rochas. But is Rochas worth talking about extensively? What will we be talking about Rochas if not his legacy of lotring and grabbing of land and money belonging to Imo State and Imo people?

For that reason, we’ll stop this short essay here, while hoping that Rochas will see reaon/reasons enough to stop touching the living lion’s tail! Our take!

Let God be Judge!

By God’s grace, Imo State is being recovered, reconstructed and rehabilitated by Governor Uzodimma!

Always expect the best from Governor Uzodimma!