Imo Must Pay Governor Okorocha
Carol Bennett once said, “Whatever is to be done is debt, which its doing and unravelling pays, what is owed is a debt that determined efforts more than doing and unravelling, steps backward to upload in order to offload.” This saying reminds me of Governor Rochas Okorocha’s statement to Imo workers and Imolites during the May 1st 2015- Workers Days Celebration, when he reminded Imo State that she owes him 15 billion Naira, the sum total of the accrued security volt unpaid to him, that adds up 4 billion Naira annually since 2011, which he voted for the free education in the State.
Like Carol Bennett, debt is debt, whether it is a deed to be done or a liability owed. The reason is simple- That debtors must pay while alive before it becomes bad debt. But the most essential aspect of debt owing and paying is not only being indebted and the effort to pay back, but being alive to be back and being aware that one is in debt, to whom, when and for what reasons or in which area and for what. This knowledge brings up the questions: How is Imo indebted to Governor Rochas Okorocha- Is it for gratitude or money? If Imo is in-debt to him, the State should pay him fast.
This question however, is already answered by Governor Okorocha’s precisions that it is from the security volt. What remains is to know who borrowed the amount or who engaged in the debt transaction that led to this sum, when, why and who were the signatories to the transaction?
The investigations into those involved in the transaction makes it possible for Imo State to pay or refuse to pay the debt. If she pays or decides to pay, the realisations from the investigations will not only convince the State, but compel its communal conscience to pay its benefactor the borrowed sum. If she decides not to pay also, the facts drawn from the investigations will convince the lender that the State either owes him, but refuses to pay or does not owe him and thus being urged to pay or cajoled to pay becomes thus fraudulent.
I wouldn’t like to border my reader with the rigours of analytical investigations to a crucial State-matter like this, but I crave your indulgence to join me in investigating why Imo must pay Governor Rochas Okorocha.
To this effect, I would start thus by finding out who borrowed the said money, was it a State’s collective and communal decision or was it a personal act? If it is communal, was it by a constituted group or by a delegated representation? If it is a personal act, was it done by the consent of the State or by the act of one man? Beside these, who owns the borrowed sum, is she Imo State or the Imo State Governor? If it is the State, can the State be separated from the State Governor, or can she borrow her property from her caretaker that the Governor is, by dint of his function as the chief guardian of the State’s communal patrimony? Can one borrow himself? If he can, does she owe any obligation to pay himself back?
From the statements of Governor Okorocha on May 1, 2014 and this year’s Workers’ Day, it is obvious that either the State has refused to stop borrowing or does not borrow from her Governor, Rochas Okorocha? The reason is simple- No good lender will continue to release funds for a bankrupt borrower. It is absolutely unwise that one borrowed 4 billion Naira in 2011 and was unable to pay back (if the borrowed sum has stipulated pay-back time or duration); then came again to borrow same amount from same lender (on same pay-back insolvency) and perhaps for same business or deed, which accomplishment could not refund the borrowed lot, and the lender released same fund to same insolvent for subsequent years, hoping to get the fund back, and thus continues for four years plus.
These reflections lead to further analyses on the aim of the borrower, the transactional motive for borrowing such amount of money annually, and why it must be from same financier? Consequently, it is not absurd to ask, ‘For what reason did the State borrow such amount annually and what profit or impact has the fund fielded-into, made for the development of the channelled sector or investment area?’ This inquiry is for evaluation purposes, because every business financier both measures and evaluates the transactional successful ascent to the desired aim of investment, and makes efforts to ameliorate lapses; with the aim of making maximum profit and benefit from the efforts, risks and invested sum.
According to Governor Okorocha, the owed sum was used by the State to fund and sponsor the free education programme in the State since 2011, and this certainly answered the latest investigations above. But further inquiries demand that each individual Imolite, from personal reflections and reactions from the inquiries above, give his or her own opinion whether Imo owes Okorocha or not, and if it has obligations to pay or not if the State owes her Governor.
My major interest here is that the Governor and father of the State said that his personal family owes him, thus Imo must pay the father and breadwinner of the State or face outright starvation. This is a conscientious obligation, which Imolites must respond to and again reflect and decided if it will still borrow from the lending-father to feed his led-sons and daughters or stop borrowing from him.
Imolites must as well decide and evaluate how successful the invested segment- The education sector in the State has been, from the primary to the tertiary level since it started the new investment and borrowing- The State Free Education Scheme. Have Imolites experienced any desirable change and improvement in the sector that compels it to continue borrowing from same financier for same purpose and for four years plus? If a business or transaction continually leads one to bankruptcy, is it wise to continue it or stop so far?
Secondly, if this Free Education Scheme makes the running of the State crippled, and the investment has no positive turn up, why continue it? Governor Okorocha in his speech on May 1, during the Workers Day made Imolites understand that 98% of the State allocation is consumed by politicians and civil servants; only 2% of the allocation is left for public consumption. How can a State be developed and run with just 2% of available funds, and 98% for salary payments, and still the State leadership embarks annually on billions of naira ventures that yield nothing and the borrower is insolvent to pay back? If as he said that after paying civil servants and political appointees, nothing remains to work with, and that 4.123 billion Naira is sent monthly to pay workers their salaries and political appointees, it necessitates readjustment in the State running scheme.
To this effect, the complain in the reduction of Federal allocation to the State, is futile for the solution of the obvious problem and should not warrant Governor Okorocha to tell teachers not to depend on him but have other places to depend on for subsistence. Why I say this is because of its implications to the education sector in the State, where the State borrows from him for investment that yields nothing.
If teachers are concentrated in their job and look nowhere for dependence over these years, and the education sector has fallen abysmally low like this, what will happen if they embark on such? How will our schools be, and what will be the future of our children in the schools? Is this sort of comment encouraging and a deterrent to the corruption that he thereafter cried out that has eaten deep into the civil service commission- With Ghost workers, and embezzlement of funds? It is better that Imo goes to dialogue with Governor Okorocha before starvation kills the State or pay him back the borrowed sum, even with a promissory note- ‘At all, at all, na witch!’
By Prof. Protus Nathan Uzorma