OKOROCHA WILL DELIVER ON ALL PROMISES - UMEH

By NBF News
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As members of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) bask in the euphoria of the victory of the party's governorship candidate in Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, a chieftain of the party says that Imo people are tired of the incumbent governor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim.

According to Chima Umeh, who was Okorocha's agent during the election, his party's victory in Imo was a glaring case of 'God at work.'

He, however, warned Okorocha to beware of sycophancy when he assumes office.

What does the victory of APGA represents in Imo State?

The state governorship election in Imo State was what I will call the most interesting outcome in the history of elections in the state. This is because it involved what I will call the good, the bad and the ugly. You also had the good, the bad and the beautiful. For one, the notion that an incumbent cannot be displaced was defeated. And it becomes more interesting when you have a desperate incumbent who does not want the basic principles of democracy to apply in an election. However, I look at that election from the position that it was God at work. For me, it was simply God at work. The general impression was that every Imo citizen was tired of Ohakim's government. People were tired of a government that is being run on the pages of newspapers. They were tired of billboard governance, government that is run on billboards. People were tired of a government of propaganda, and sloganeering. People wanted a change. They wanted a fresh breath. They wanted a government that would listen to them and also work with them, for the good of the state.

Ohakim knew the people no longer wanted him and that made him desperate to hang on. I worked for APGA in the election and I am proud to be associated with APGA in this feat, because I believe we needed a change. We needed to re-do whatever the Ohakim stood for that was bringing Imo State down. We thank God that eventually the will of God was done and the people had their wish for a change. Simply put, it was God at work in Imo State. You will recall that the governor-elect is a man of philanthropy. He made money outside government and has founded schools, where children are schooling on free education basis. He houses them and feeds them free. My only worry is if he will have the sort of resources he needs to transform the state, in line with his promises.

You are aware of the victory celebrations that erupted in Imo State and outside the state after Okorocha was declared winner. What message do you think this development sends to the governor-elect and his party?

The wild celebrations were wonderful. I was in Owerri and witnessed it. I must say I was overwhelmed by the out-pouring of emotions that flowed in Owerri that day. I agree the celebrations send a very clear signal to the governor-elect because to whom much is given, much is expected. In a way, you could say Owelle's election was divinely inspired. It was such that both the young and the old trooped out to associate themselves with the victory. A lot of us were on the field to be part of the change process. I was an agent at Ngor-Okpala and almost lost my life to thugs imported to work for the PDP. I thank God that I am still live to talk about it. I agree the celebrations have a message for him. The only caution, however, is that he has to be very careful with the sort of people that will now come to hang around him. His election was a mass movement. It was more like a battle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, as described by Karl Marx. It was a battle between the political elite and the masses in Imo State. And part of the message in the celebration was that the masses had regained their state, that they have reclaimed it from the elite that hijacked it.

The message is very clear. We are happy we were able to dislodge those people who had been feeding on the state. We are happy that we worked for change and were part of it. We were made to live under a situation where a clique held the state hostage. They determined what happened and you see a council chairman spend two years in office without sinking a single borehole in the entire council area because he has to settle some people with the monthly allocations he gets. We got fed up with this system and began to build a network for change. It worked. Now, I see some of these same people coming to the governor-elect's home to pay homage, forgetting that we all knew the role they played in making sure he was stopped. Some of them were busy sharing money and recruiting thugs to stop Rochas. Now, they are running to his house to pay homage and seek a place in his government.

I am sure he knows these characters and he knows that the vote for him was a vote against these people. So, the best he can do for himself and the state is to avoid them. Just avoid them, as they represent no good for him and the state. I am glad he has already said his government will be middle-class driven. The masses have taken their destiny into their hands and rescued their state. So, let him avoid these political parasites, political businessmen and create masses-oriented administration. What happened in Imo was a revolution. I am aware he sees it so. And the people are eager for results.

If you were to set an agenda for the governor-elect, what would you advice?

Well, APGA has a programme. We have a manifesto. And one of the most important agenda of APGA is free education and you recall the governor-elect promised same during his campaigns. That is a policy he should pursue vigorously. He has done it in his private capacity and with private funds. I believe that with state funds, he will do even greater in that regard because he knows how to manage it. I heard the out-going governor says free education is not possible in the state, arguing on where the new government will get the resources to fund it. I say quite honestly and frankly that all that is required is to block all avenues of fund leakages in the state. Stop all the unwarranted and frivolous expenditure that government and its officials engage in. For instance, we know that almost all government appointees under Ohakim spend all their time at Concord Hotels on state funds. If you cut down on all that, stop all the money that is being siphoned out of the state, award contracts and seek results, not just to expect a certain percentage to come back to you as kick-backs, there is no way you are not going to raise money to fund free education in the state. This is one programme that is at the heart of the governor-elect and I am sure he will not disappoint Imo people on this.

The governor-elect also promised free healthcare delivery to pregnant women, children under five years old and to old people in the state. There is no way he will fail on that. APGA also has a programme of opening up the rural communities through a good network of roads and link them to the state capital. These are part of the things we expect the governor-elect to deliver in the next four years. I know him personally and he is not one to renege on promises.

When you talk about free education, how about infrastructural development in the schools?

One thing you must know about administration is the concept of prioritising. I am sure Owelle Rochas Okorocha will prioritise on issues that his administration needs to address urgently. But you must know that any government that comes in without a programme is as good as useless. But we are lucky we have one in Imo State, an in-coming one, which has loads of programmes to make the state better. Also, remember that government comes with challenges. The free education he promised is a challenge. However, if you look back, you will find that even in the current regime, school fees are paid, yet there is no infrastructure to go with it. And the simple reason for this is that people who are in power now are more interested in things that will put more money in their pockets than in things that will positively affect society in general. That is why we have the kind of rot we have in Imo. If you look at Lagos State and some states in the South West, the people are enjoying fee education and infrastructure development in those schools are also going on at the same time. Teachers are being recruited, trained and retrained and no one is complaining that government is being drained of funds.

I assure you that it is something that can be done and will be done by the new administration of Okorocha. Education is the biggest industry in Imo State and I can tell you that the resources to fund free education are available. Remember, Imo is an oil-producing state and, therefore, gets a share of the oil derivation fund. You must also know that the world is now about technology. This provides a new challenge to produce and train children that will drive this technological age and compete on the world stage. So, anyhow you look at it, education for Imo people is very important and Owelle Okorocha is not kidding about free education. By a conservative estimate, the out-going government spent about N500 million on billboards alone. That is enough to do something positive in the education sector.

The governor-elect is rich, by all standards. Beyond that, how do you think he will tackle the issue of corruption in public service?

Yes, you are right in your assessment of him. But when it comes to corruption, you must know that it is not something only one man can do. It is a virus we all must join hands to fight. However, in fighting corruption, the head has a very important role to play. I believe that if the head is rotten, the stench will affect every other part of the body. If you have a problem with your head now, you soon find that all parts of your body will begin to respond to the problem. So, if the head of government is corrupt, the entire government system will take a queue. If it is clean, it will trickle down and also affect the other parts. So, to fight corruption, the leader must lead by example. If the leader makes his lieutenants to know that he does not like frittering away government resources, they will not do that. If the leader is honest, I am not sure dishonest people will gather around him. Remember they say like attracts likes. John Maxwell describes it as the law of attraction.

I am sure that with his personal quality, Owelle Rochas will not attract people who will mess up the system with corrupt acts. One of the reasons some of us left our businesses and jobs to work for his victory is that we know he is not corrupt. I had to leave my business and law practice to work for his victory because he is someone I can vouch for. He is not one who will expect you to come give him a kickback when he awards a road contract to you. And since he will not ask you for that, he will insist you deliver the job. He is a good Christian and not the kind that plays around it. He is deeply committed to Christianity. Since he has made promises of free education and others, he knows that the best and easiest way to deliver on this is to tackle corruption because with corrupt people around, he will find it difficult to deliver on these.

You are an ICT expert and it had been said that ICT would drive economy of the world in years to come. With the benefit of hindsight, what programmes does an APGA government in Imo State have for ICT development?

I will say you are correct with the understanding of the place of ICT in world economy. The world has gone ICT and there is no way any government, which wants to develop, can run way from ICT development. And this is one issue I have with the out-going government. Despite the razzmatazz about projects, there was no talk about ICT development for our children. I did not witness any workshop or dialogue on ICT development in Imo State. But I am sure things will change for the better now. Any government that is talking about education without a programme for ICT is wasting its time. ICT is forming the bedrock of education world over. I know that the governor-elect thinks deeply about this too. He has an idea on how ICT development can be incorporated into the primary, secondary and tertiary school curriculum in Imo state. He has already implemented this in his group of schools and it will be very easy to adopt them for the entire Imo school system. APGA also has a very robust agenda for IT hubs in areas where a couple of schools can take advantage of them.

One issue that dogged the out-going administration in Imo is its constant face-off with labour, especially with university lecturers. How does the new administration intend to tackle this?

Dialogue is the key. When you dialogue with labour, they understand you better and you also understand them. But when you grandstand and show them how arrogant you are, they have a tool to fight back. Those in the labour movement are human beings. So, they expect you to wear their shoe to also see how it pinches them. But again, when you dialogue with them and make them understand real situations without wasting resources on frivolities, they will see with you and may even amend their demands. There is no doubt, however, that a peaceful labour atmosphere is necessary for development. One thing I can assure you is that under Okorocha, labour will be carried along. I am not sure you are likely to see the sort of industrial friction that dogged the out-going administration. You do not need to show arrogance to your workers and maybe, sit in the comfort of your office and talk down on them as if they do not matter. For heaven sake, those in the labour movement are also human beings and they matter. An APGA government in Imo will create harmonious government-labour relations. The most important thing in what has happened is that APGA is interested in moving Imo State forward and in doing this, everybody will be carried along.