The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Gov Okorocha

  • Okorocha’s varsity becomes IMSU annex

    The Imo State government has converted the Eastern Palm University, Ogboko, established and owned by former Governor Rochas Okorocha, to a campus of the state-owned university.

    The House of Assembly had passed a law allotting a 90 per cent equity shares to trustees of the Rochas Foundation and 10 per cent to the government.

    Chairman of the Committee on the Review of Newly-established Tertiary Institutions Prof. Jude Njoku, at a news conference on Wednesday, said the committee established a primacie case that the institution was established with state funds.

    Read Also: Ihedioha vows to make Imo cleanest

    The committee also recommended that the Imo State University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Aboh/Okpala, and the University of Science and Technology, Umuna, should remain campuses of the Imo State University. While Aboh/Okpala will be the campus for agriculture and veterinary medicine, Umuna will be for engineering as earlier conceived.

    The committee also scrapped all polytechnics established towards the end of the Rochas Okorocha administration, and recommended that two of the newly established polytechnics become campuses of the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, while the other two be converted to model technical schools.

    The College of Education (Technical), Egbema, was recommended for reversion to its former status of secondary school. The committee also recommended that the appointments of all Vice Chancellors and Provosts be terminated while the Governing Councils of Colleges of Education, Ihitte Uboma and Umuagwo, be dissolved and reconstituted.

  • Gov Okorocha’s self-righteousness

    Gov Okorocha’s self-righteousness

    Faced with growing anger over his impulsive decision to erect a statue in honour of the discredited President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has intemperately argued that he neither regretted the decision nor intended to reverse it. Here is his argument: “While the good people of the state and all men and women of goodwill were celebrating the good things Mr Zuma’s visit has brought to the state, in the short and long-run, the opposition in the state, out of glaring frustration, decided to make much ado in the social media over the statue of the man in Owerri. Those of the former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, and others had earlier been unveiled, and these enemies of our people did not see the good things associated with Mr Zuma’s visit or what it portends for the state. They only saw the statue that was erected as an encouragement to the man.”

    No one is sure how much the statue cost, whether about half a billion naira, as some say, or less. But the self-assured governor is happy that he had managed to bring to Imo a notable African personality, attracted foreign investment to the state, and is happily engaged in erecting statues regardless of his difficulty in meeting his financial obligations to serving and retired workers. It is a waste of time to blow up the governor’s dubieties. He is too thick-skinned to care, and too obtuse to be persuaded to see things differently. It is hoped that the state has learnt enough lessons from the Okorocha snafu to ensure that their next governor is a temperate, consensus-building and empathetic democrat without the aggrandising tendency that has hobbled and derailed most Nigerian politicians

  • Misquoting Gov. Okorocha

    ATIONAL Mirror of July 24 welcomes us this week with recurrent blunders: “Nasarawa police nabs (nab) 30 suspected robbers”

    “DSS arrests 4 over (for) kidnap, death of school proprietress”

    “Robbers write (write to) community on imminent attack”

    “Police empowers (empower) 45 widows, 13 orphans”

    “Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday ordered the newly inaugurated Anti-Cult Task Force to shoot at (on) sight cult members….”

    “…the governor joined other aggrieved PDP governors to decamp (defect) to the APC.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             “Anambra monarchs want tax collection (tax-collection) role”

    “…as FRSC deploys 1,302 men on (in) highways”

    “Turkey switch: Macauley (sic) gets Eneramo (Eneramo’s) support”

    Finally from the Back Page of NATIONAL MIRROR under review come the next two errors: “…his ouster is welcomed as good riddance to bad rubbish.” Get it right: good riddance to rubbish!

    “Though certain Northern leaders have (had) in the past vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable….”

    DAILY Sun EDITORIAL of July 21 takes over from National Mirror with four challenges: “…the percentage of oil revenue to be paid to oil producing (oil-producing) states.”

    “Unfortunately, the inability of the Confab to agree with the recommendation of the consensus building (consensus-building) body made up of….”

    “…the debate on revenue sharing (revenue-sharing) formula in the country.”

    “…the total derivation fund accruable to a mineral bearing (mineral-bearing) state shall….”

    “The Management and Staff of Ocean Glory Commodities Ltd. hereby (what for?) congratulate the Federal Government of Nigeria, Management and Staff of Olam Nigeria for (on/upon)….” (Full-page advertisement)

    FEEDBACK

    AS a lover of good English, I always follow your column. My observation is that the rate of grammatical errors in newspapers nowadays is alarmingly too high. Is there nothing the Newspapers’ Proprietors Association of Nigeria, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Press Organisation can do about it? I suggest imposition of penalties or other forms of sanctions. All these mistakes are in actuality products of indolent editorial teams and slothful managements. (Rasaq Olasunkanmi, 08023670407)

    PLEASE note that “an appeal to my colleagues” is grammatically acceptable. (Vide Longman Advanced Dictionary of Contemporary English/Fifth Edition). The main clause is syntactically homonymous to “colleagues of mine”. (Tayo Aluko, Governor’s Office, Ado-Ekiti, 08148803562)

    REMINDERS: God, capitalize, i.e. should be written with a capital G, e.g. God’s country, God knows, God’s will, etc; other gods should be written in lower case, e.g. god child, godfather, godmother, godparents, godsend,  god sent, etc. There are 401 gods in Ile–Ife, Osun State, Nigeria!

    Taye is good at Mathematics/English/Tennis. Kehinde is weak in Mathematics and English (note the prepositions). She failed in English language (not “she failed English language”).

    “MONY” (note the spelling) has the plural “monies” while “money” has the plural “moneys”. Get it right, please.

    “About” should only be used with round numbers. Never say or write “about I,724 yards”. Always say or write “about 1,724 yards”. If it is “about”, it should be rounded to the nearest ten or 100 or whatever is appropriate. E.g. I have about 20 dictionaries in my library.

    Vengeful Senator Thaddeus Stevens instigated U.S. President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors” on March 5, 1868. The majority in the Senate voted to convict the President. Johnson was the 7th U.S. President (1829 – 1837); he lived from 1767 – 1845. But the final tally, 35–19, was one vote less than the required two–thirds majority. Johnson was saved by a single vote. He was not impeached.

    Bill Clinton was not impeached over the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. No U.S. President has ever been impeached! Clinton served his two terms. Richard Nixon resigned and was pardoned by Ford. (Bayo Oguntunase/adorobaba1952@yahoo.com)

    “Reports of abductions and threats to abduct Nigerian citizens by the Boko Haram insurgents is reprehensible.” (VANGUARD, July 18) Do I need to resolve the discord here? I leave that to you, my esteemed reader.

    “Because of their often times selfless response to the needs of the children, parents are seen as unique human beings who can shield their offsprings from the vicissitudes of everyday life. ‘Offspring’ is a non-count word.

    “The policemen are daily being challenged by the members of the underworld. An encounter with those people have left policemen at the mercy of death.” Get it right: An encounter with those people has….

    “An administrator per excellence….” I know of ‘par excellence’. This mix-up must have been caused by wrong pronunciation.

    “And since the economy is import-dependent, the cost of goods and services have persistently sky-rocketed.” This is an error of attraction. It is either the cost of goods and services has… or the costs have…

    “Her role in the liberation struggles in Mozambique and Angola are now part of the continent’s history.” Her role…is (not are).

    “Dupes lay siege on NEPA customers” This is the foulest headline ever published. Victims of dupery are dupes while the perpetrators are dupers. And of course lay siege to; not on.

    “First are the enduring hitches related to infrastructure, the life-wire of modern economic growth.” To avoid any maltreatment of language, use ‘livewire’.

    “We maintain that the government must take the bull by the horn by empowering NDIC….” The correct idiom is ‘take the bull by the horns’.

    The foot dragging (why omit the hyphen?) on the project had dashed hopes of expectant beneficiaries and those who pin their lifelihood on the scheme.” No foot-dragging here: the right entry is ‘livelihood’. Let’s avoid slovenliness.

     

    SALLAH GREETINGS TO ALL MUSLIM FAITHFUL

     

  • Happy birthday, jare, Gov Okorocha

    Happy birthday, jare, Gov Okorocha

    How can anyone accuse the governor of extravagant celebration?

    GOVERNOR Rochas Okorocha of Imo State has been in the news again of late. As usual with people who would not give the governor a breather, it is for the wrong reasons. The bile this time is the governor’s 50th birthday, which ought to have been marked on September 28, but was postponed to October 8 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the governor’s foundation and schools. This is where the critics first got it all wrong. If Governor Okorocha had been as flamboyant and wasteful as he is portrayed, he would have celebrated the two ceremonies differently. Because both were landmarks in their individual rights would have called for double celebration. The birthday would have been marked on September 28 and the foundation and schools that clocked 10 would also have had their day on October 8.

    Apparently, Governor Okorocha knew that armchair critics would take him to task if he did that; so, he decided to collapse the two ceremonies into one, thus killing two birds with one stone. Some savings had been made from this decision; obviously, from whichever coffers the money for the celebrations came. Not a few had speculated it must have come from the public till; some were even so categorical that the money spent on the ceremonies was from the government coffers as if the state’s accountant-general has furnished them with the necessary papers to make such a categorical assertion. Now, even if that were so, people still have to realise that money had been saved all the same because money would still have had to come from wherever if the governor had not been considerate enough to collapse his twin celebration into one.

    I can smell two rats in all these criticisms: poverty and envy. The problem is that many of those complaining that the governor is extravagant did so because they did not know how it feels to be 50, especially so when one has the deep pocket to let the invitees eat and drink to their full and still have more than enough to take away. Many of the critics must have matched the array of personalities at the ceremony: former (self-styled) President Ibrahim Babangida, former Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai, governors of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi; Rivers, Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi; Delta, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan; Katsina, Alhaji Shehu Shema, and Bauchi, Mallam Isa Yuguda with what these and other dignitaries consumed, and the exotic wines that they would have used to flush down the small chops and sumptuous meals, and concluded that it must have cost a fortune to put together such an event. That is poverty at work. Or is it at play?

    As ‘King Sunny Ade once sang, when the poor gets to the mansion of the rich, as he is cursing God, so would he be speaking so disdainfully of Him, wondering why He should create some people tall and others short; they would be wondering whether it was not the same God that created the rich who is spending so lavishly, and the poor who like Lazarus must wait to feed from the crumbs falling under the tables of the rich.

    The interesting thing is that Imo people did not behave like that, at least not the hoi polloi, which really is soul-lifting. That is to say that those protesting the governor’s ‘extravagant spending’ on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee are essentially busy bodies who delight in their fantasy that no good can ever come of the ‘Okorocha Nazareth’. Now, how do I know? A commentator’s ‘notorious fact’ revealed this in his description of the arrival of Babangida to the Heroes Square, venue of the celebration: “Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, who in company with the governor, rode into the square with some streak of a triumphant entry, as the mass of the people who had gathered at the square since 8.00 a.m. rose in loud ovation on sighting their governor and his array of important guests”.

    Pray, how does this show disapproval with the governor’s ceremony? I am sure they must have sung ‘Happy birthday’ for the governor. Their representative/s must have joined in cutting the birthday cake, etc. How could people in this felicitation mood complain about the economy of the state shut down for just one day to mark the governor’s 50th birthday? Now, when these critics got to their wits’ end, they even contradicted themselves by saying the governor shut down the entire economy in the state by approving the holiday, when time and again, these same critics have always reminded whoever cares to listen that the state is predominantly a civil servant state. So, which businesses must have lost colossal amounts due to the declaration of a day holiday? Which man-hours could have been lost? If the major source of sustenance is the monthly federal allocation, how did the holiday affect the state’s share? Those who say basic infrastructure is weak if not non-existent in the state; and those who say the schools are dilapidated, that the people have no potable water and that healthcare facilities are inadequate, in short those who say Imo State is backward, thus trying to give the impression that the governor has not been working would see how little they are when they hear what some of the invited eminent persons said of the governor at the ceremony.

    Tsvangirai, in his remarks charged African leaders to look inwards by delivering those promises they made during their electioneering campaign, adding that the electorate expected more from them. He commended Okorocha for his milestone in ensuring that his people benefit from democracy dividends. General Babangida on his part extolled the virtues of Okorocha for his achievements in education, philanthropy and governance. He called on other leaders to assist the special citizens by providing for them at all times. What he did not add is that they should emulate Governor Okorocha. When these gods who have seen it all in public office have spoken, who are people who do not know how hot the seats on which the governor and other highly placed people are sitting (or once sat) to contradict them? What other testimonial could have been greater than these?

    All those who have been condemning this wise and prudent decision from an equally wise and prudent governor should ask for asagafurulahi so that God can forgive them. The governor’s ears must be full by now over this storm in a teacup. I plead with him not to let this stop the good works he has been doing in the state since his election in May, last year. That is the way it is. I am sure he must have heard of the wise saying that ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’. The governor should not forget that when his predecessor was there, the people complained; they said he was present more on billboards than on ground.

    The problem with the critics is that they cannot see the larger picture that the governor is seeing. Governor Okorocha at the occasion restated his vow to put Imo in the map of the fastest developing states by executing only people-oriented programmes. That is to say more holidays are coming. Isn’t this one sure way to make that happen? Happy birthday, jare, your Excellency. Even on auto-pilot, Imo Ebeano!