ONWUASOANYA FCC JONES
Governor Okorocha of Imo State will be completing his Constitutionally allowed two terms of eight years in about five weeks from now. Many writers and commentators have taken different lines in reviewing his performance in these eight years.
The governor, as the most talked about politician in Nigeria today has expectedly gotten more reviews than any outgoing or re-elected governor. For the purpose of succinctness, I will outline just 25 out of over 1000 blunders of the governor, that have earned him as much hatred from retards as he is loved by progressives. This is Easter, and I will not lie. Before God, all I have put here are true and verifiable:
- For twelve years of PDP’s reign in Imo State, there was not a single government built hospital in Imo State, except the Imo State University Teaching Hospital completed by Udenwa. Governor Okorocha in eight years built about 30 new Specialist Hospitals, including a world class Ochiedike Diagnostic and Dialysis Center and a Cancer Palliative Care Center.
- As at 2010 when Governor Okorocha campaigned for the governorship of the State on the promise of free and qualitative education, every single soul in the PDP today dismissed him as a liar and openly told the world that free education was impossible anywhere in the world. Governor Okorocha did not only implement the free education policy as he earlier promised in Primary and Secondary Schools, but also went a step further to implement same in universities, making Imo the first and only State in the Federation to implement a free education policy. Even Federal Government owned tertiary institutions pay school fees till date.
- Governor Okorocha employed over 30,000 new civil servants in Imo State without asking anyone of them to pay a dime as application fee or sorting money before they could get the jobs. During Ohakim, the less than 1500 original beneficiaries of the 10,000 jobs fraud paid application fee and a number of them were said to have paid bribe to some top government officials at the time in order to get the jobs. Till date, even Federal government jobs are mostly paid for.
- Governor Okorocha created over 200,000 jobs through the private sector, by making Imo conducive for private sector investments.
- Governor Okorocha opened up huge opportunities in the real estate sector, thereby creating a slew of jobs and wealth making opportunities for the youths. Data has it that more than 10,000 new buildings have sprung up in the last eight years, in the Owerri capital city alone. Imo State has also been rated as the biggest building materials market in Nigeria and the fastest developing State in Nigeria after Lagos and Abuja.
- Governor Okorocha has given youths more opportunities in government than any other governor before him or any other governor in Nigeria.
- Governor Okorocha’s administration has built over 1000 new classroom blocks in the last eight years.
- Governor Okorocha built 12 new tertiary institutions in the State and upgraded Imo State University, which was the only State owned university to a higher standard.
- Governor Okorocha employed more than 2,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in Imo State University and became the first and only governor in the history of the State to initiate and complete any structure in that university.
- Governor Okorocha established the new Imo City Schools, Imo Girls’ College and Imo Boys’ College in Owerri.
- Governor Okorocha is the first governor of Imo State since 1999 to create brand new roads. More than forty brand new roads were created across Imo State within the last eight years. These roads include; the 1st to 5th Inland roads, the new Jacob Zuma Road and several others.
- Governor Okorocha built the first road tunnels in Imo State. These tunnels have gone a long way in decongesting traffic in Owerri and reducing the rate of traffic accident on the roads of Owerri.
- Governor Okorocha completed the first ever flyovers in Imo State. The Okigwe road and Orlu road flyovers are indelible legacies of the Rescue Mission administration under Owelle Rochas Okorocha.
- Governor Okorocha created new sets of millionaires and power brokers in Imo State, mostly from among youths who did not have wealthy backgrounds, but are capable and competent.
- Governor Okorocha allowed press freedom, the way it has never been experienced before in Imo politics. Governor Okorocha is the most insulted governor in the country, yet, he is the most friendly with his critics.
- Governor Okorocha brought God to the driving seat of governance in Imo State. He built the best chapel by any State government in Nigeria and ensured regular worship and praise in the Government House. He demolished many demonic strongholds in the State and freed Imo from the bondage of occultists.
- He stopped the practice of sharing Imo allocation with few people who were regarded as godfathers and owners of Imo State. He deployed the resources of Imo State to the Infrastructural and human development of the State, like no other governor has ever done.
- He built a brand new Imo State High Court Complex, named after Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, built a brand new headquarters for the Directorate of State Security, new police Force Headquarters for the Imo State Police Command, new and modernized Prison headquarters with the best facilities for our prison inmates.
- Built a new Mechanic Village at Avu.
- Built more than 25,000 new lockup shops in Owerri alone. The Imo International Modern Market, Egbeada, the Alaba International Market, Naze, and several others.
- Governor Okorocha aligned with ordinary Imo people in the choice of his successor, instead of aligning with the elites.
- Governor Okorocha ensured radical Infrastructural and human capital development in the LGA level of government, constructing a minimum of fifteen kilometers of roads per LGA, new markets, schools, ICT centers and employment of more than 10,000 new staff by the Local Government Service Commission.
- Governor Okorocha donated more than 2000 security vehicles to different security agencies in the State, introduced a more vibrant community based security outfits, who partners with conventional security agencies to combat crime. This idea drastically reduced crime in the State and created jobs for thousands of youths in the State.
- Governor Okorocha opened up a new vista of opportunities for women in politics without subjecting them to any form of molestation or extractiveness. He gave Imo women opportunities they never got in the past and this is without any strings attached.
- Governor Okorocha ran a government of the ordinary people, where the gates of the Imo Government House are always thrown open for everyone, no matter their status in the society. Today, the Imo State Government House which used to be known as Douglas House, is now known as the People’s House in line with his philosophy of the people owning the government rather than the government owning the people.
