Owelle Okorocha’s Sweet Legacies In Imo State

ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES

Before we forget

Revolutionaries all over the world have always met with stiff discontent from among the elites, who feel, threatened by the revolutionary ideas that mostly tend to shift the goal post from a position of convenience for the elites, to a position of convenience to the ordinary people. No revolution in the world’s history has gone on without facing a stringent opposition from the leadership class, or whom social economists may prefer to regard as the bourgeois. A revolution on its own is repulsive to the ruling class and they would put everything in their powers to ensure that any thought about a revolution never succeeds.

A critical strategy of the ruling elite in halting a revolutionary idea is through the deployment of propaganda to maximally demonize the revolutionary and his ideas, and most times, rather than few times, the revolutionary who fights for the liberation of the ordinary people is regarded with some level of suspicion and fear by the same people he seeks to liberate. The elites would always have something to tar the image of their worst nightmare with dirt, and being that nature sets humans to resist change, the elites always find a way to make the people doubt the true intentions of their liberator.

It may be too high a call, to use our Lord Jesus Christ as an example here, but we all know that Jesus Christ was abused, spat on and denigrated even by those whose relatives he resurrected from death and others whose ailments he cured. This is not because they forgot the good deeds of Christ, but because they were made to doubt the true intentions of such good deeds. History books are rich with stories of the travails of liberators, not just from the elites, but from even the ordinary people whose chains they commit to breaking.

The new Governor of Imo State, His Excellency Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has commissioned scores of people to write uncooked gibberish against his immediate predecessor. This is not because he does not appreciate that Owelle Rochas Okorocha has redefined governance for better, but because he is frightened by the enormous expectations placed on his shoulders by the achievements of Owelle Rochas. Ihedioha’s media aides cannot spend a day without having something silly to spew about Governor Okorocha. This is not their fault, but they have to deliver on a given assignment. When Ihedioha walks, he sees a giant image of Okorocha casting a shadow over him, and this frightens him to no end.

Ihedioha is a true born of Imo State and he knows how Imo State was before 2011. When he takes a tour across the State on projects supervision, he is amazed at how much work was done in eight years and is worried that he might not be able to live up to expectation, even by half. Instead of taking the humble path by asking for advice from his predecessor, Ihedioha seems to believe that demonizing Okorocha would earn him some space to fail and be forgiven by Imolites.

It makes it easy to understand why the Governor commissioned his Chief of Staff, Chief Chris Okewulonu, to get into town with the tale that Governor Okorocha left bitter legacies. The Governor is overwhelmed with the realities of the hard to match legacies left behind by Owelle Rochas Okorocha and he appreciates the fact that Imo people of all political persuasions want nothing else but sustenance of these legacies. To Ihedioha and his advisers, the best way to divert the attention of Imolites from his predecessor’s legacies is by painting them black and bitter. But, Imolites are neither foolish nor forgetful, they know what legacies the Rescue Mission administration left behind and no amount of concentrated falsehood can diminish their admiration for these legacies.

Imolites remember vividly how difficult it was for parents and guardians to pay their children and dependents school fees, and they have not forgotten that thousands of children of school age were roaming the streets, hawking petty goods, or doing menial jobs because their parents couldn’t afford to send them to school, till Owelle came in 2011 and became the first governor to implement free education from Primary to tertiary education level. This is a bitter legacy to Ihedioha and his team because they know how difficult it is keeping up with this legacy. They are already looking for an explanation to give for discontinuing the free education program, even when States like Rivers are beginning to buy into the Owelle Rochas Okorocha vision for every Imo child to go to school.

From 2011 till 2018, Imo State had the highest number of school enrollments among all the States in the Federation. Imo also came tops in the number of UTME applications, university enrollments, number of graduates per year and as well the highest number of young professionals was drawn from Imo State from 2011 to 2018. Imo Teachers were among the best paid in the Federation and the highest paid in the entire Southeast. Imo ranked best in educational infrastructures with the building of over 700 new classroom blocks by the Owelle Rochas Okorocha administration within eight years.

In the area of human capital development, Owelle Rochas Okorocha stands out as the governor that most empowered his people. He empowered 305 youths with the sum of One Million Naira each in a single day gave out startup funds to thousands of women and youths, while sponsoring Imolites to prosperity in the creative industry. Imo State produced the highest number of new millionaires in the country from 2011 to 2019 and thousands of jobs were created while new businesses boomed within this period.

The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics recognized Imo alongside Anambra as the States with the highest number of billionaires per square kilometer, while a World Bank statistics placed the poverty rate in Imo at less than 18% as at 2018; down from over 57% it was in 2011.

Owelle Rochas Okorocha kicked off his administration with a frontal attack on crimes and all forms of banditry. It is on record that many well-to-do Imolites were on self-imposed exile before 2011 due to the high level of insecurity ravaging the State at that time. Governor Okorocha, through deliberate investments in community policing successfully reduced the level of insecurity in the State. IMO ranked among the safest States in the country throughout the tenure of His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha. Owelle handed over a safe Imo with a bubbling night life to Ihedioha and this couldn’t have been a bitter legacy. Imolites are already looking on with fear as night life in Owerri; the capital city is gradually fading off, less than one month after the expiration of Owelle’s tenure.

Governor Ihedioha is the luckiest governor in Nigeria. He is the only governor who received more than 50 billion Naira in liquid cash from his predecessor and over 300 billion Naira in projects that were built by the State government under Owelle Rochas Okorocha, which the Federal Government shall refund the State in few months from now. If we consider that Imo’s debt profile as at 2011 was over 100 billion Naira and the fact that as at May 2019, the confirmed debt burden of the State according to the Debt Management Office is less than 116 billion Naira, we can conclude without fear of contravention that Owelle Rochas Okorocha left Imo, debtless.

Ihedioha and others were given a free and convenient platform to carry out their campaigns without any form of molestation or intimidation by the administration of Owelle Rochas Okorocha. This is because of the immediate past governor’s tolerance of political opposition. In less than one month of his administration, Ihedioha is already destroying this legacy of his predecessor, by sending thugs to destroy and disrupt the businesses of his political opponents. It is on record that the Owelle Rochas Okorocha administration saw more investments in Imo State by opposition politicians than at any other time in the history of the State.

In infrastructural, the Owelle Rochas Okorocha administration opened up so many new roads in the State that even Ihedioha might have sometimes missed his way to his house. Rural roads received unprecedented attention, while markets, and public places were completely rebuilt. Today, the Odenigbo Presidential Lodge provides Ihedioha’s guests and appointees a very convenient accommodation. The New Concorde Hotels and Casino, the New stadia at Okigwe and Orlu, the over ten new tertiary institutions built by the Owelle Rochas Okorocha administration are some of the undeniable legacies of His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

An entire book will not be enough to recount the many wonderful legacies of the man, recently recognized as the second biggest philanthropist in Nigeria and world recognized iconic revolutionary. Ihedioha must have known by now that his attempts at denying the numerous legacies of Owelle Rochas Okorocha are futile. It would be better if he looks ahead and begins to work, rather than trying to melt a rock by pouring warm water on it, for that is what his attempt to denigrate Owelle’s legacies amount to.

Imo Must Move Forward!