Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha, is eternally fascinated by his own elocution. When he lets go of his words, neither time nor logic, nor yet his audience’s discomforts restrain him. Last Monday, he was again at his irrepressible best as he indirectly announced his preference for the state’s governorship position. In the account released to the press of the visit by some All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders to the governor, Sam Onwuemeodo, his press secretary, gave insight into the workings of Mr Okorocha’s mind. The visitors, all of whom were APC leaders from Owerri Municipal Council, suggested, according to the press secretary’s account, that the governor should endorse his chief of staff, Uche Nwosu, for the next governorship election. Mr Nwosu is a son-in-law to the governor.
Responding to his visitors’ blandishments, the governor craftily hid his secret longings for his pick despite the fact that, like most other governors, his desire to run things down to a tee appears boundless. In particular, monarchism is instinctive with him. Here is Mr Okorocha at his elocutionary and dissimulative best: “Uche Nwosu is hardworking, and never gets tired. He is a very humble young man. Not proud. Not arrogant. So, power won’t enter his head. In spite of the position he occupies, you can’t see him quarrelling with anybody or maltreating anybody. He does not segregate anybody, whether from Orlu or Owerri or Okigwe zone. He relates with people enviously. I have checked him in and out, I have not found him wanting. What the state wants is Imo governor and not Owerri Zone or Orlu Zone or Okigwe Zone governor. Zoning does not put food on the table of anybody. The young man is a team player who does not use his office to molest anybody. He has the qualities of a good leader. If he says he will run for governor, I will support him.”
Ignore the one or two howlers in the governor’s statement. Ignore also his cautionary declaration of support. What is clear is that Mr Okorocha has made up his mind. So, too, in all probability, has his son-in-law. They can’t fool the public. Indeed, going by the nature of politics in these parts, the APC leaders’ visit was most likely orchestrated. There is hardly any governor in Nigeria who is not interested in who his successor is. Mr Okorocha is not an exception. What probably sets him apart is that he has declared support for his son-in-law, again, probably a first in Nigeria. It is possible that Mr Nwosu has all the qualities the governor adumbrated, and perhaps even much more. It is also possible that the visiting APC leaders were genuinely persuaded about the potential successor’s qualities, and were anxious to ensure that the state should be put in the hands of a person with a good head on his shoulders, someone not prone to the tremulousness that excessive ambition and bureaucratic and political arrogance confer on ill-bred leaders.
But regardless of the fears that prompted the governor to weave safety nets, it is also indubitable that Mr Okorocha is in theory and practice a monarchist. Last December, he had controversially appointed his sister, Ogechi Ololo, to the equally controversial Ministry of Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment. He defended both the ministry and his sister’s appointment thus: “The real essence of life is to be happy and to fulfil one’s purpose in life; Government officials are elected to address this. Happiness and Purpose Fulfilment ministry, therefore, is established for the lost time to correct the policy framework to guide ministries and departments on what they must do to guarantee the citizens’ happiness and contribute better to the society. This is the very reason people elect their leaders: to guarantee their happiness and purpose fulfilment. A great leader therefore, is one who provides happiness to the people. Unfortunately, this vital element of our social lives has not been properly addressed…The choice of Mrs Ogechi Ololo, a Masters Degree Holder in computer Science, USA, who has been the Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor on Domestic Matters and Food Security, can be described as a round peg in a round hole.”
Mr Okorocha has a little over a year to go as governor. There is, therefore, not much any Imolite can do to mitigate his monarchism, let alone his insatiable romance with rhetoric. They will nevertheless hope that they can do something about coping with and penalising his offensive monarchical inclinations. He has made an inspiring case for his son-in-law as the next governor, but Imolites know that the young man is untested politically and, despite the governor’s confidence, even emotionally. Mr Okorocha is at liberty to support anyone he likes, but it is not certain that he has done so with the judgement and cleverness he seems to repeatedly arrogate to himself. Respect for democracy and its processes requires that the governor approach the issue of succession with all the restraint and gravitas the constitution enjoins those in position of leadership. But Mr Okorocha is feisty, bold, sometimes mocks people’s feelings, and above all, carries himself, in words and deeds, with the insouciant airs of royalty and snobbishness. He is, therefore, unlikely to be mortified by his choices for the Happiness ministry and the governor’s office in 2019 notwithstanding public remonstrances.
There is nothing substantial to defend the allegation that Mr Okorocha, despite his controversiality, is divisive. He is undoubtedly ambitious, and he hopes that his unquenchable zeal for his party, not to say his well-known eloquence and derring-do, will somehow earn him a shot at the presidency sometime in the future, when the country manages to achieve a consensus in favour of the Igbo. He is also quite exposed, has a crossover appeal, and regardless of the cynicism of many Imolites in an age when the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) seems to have captured the imagination of the Igbo, is well regarded by many politicians outside the Igbo region. But his inscrutable tendency for frivolity, such as his creation of the Happiness ministry and the erection of statues in honour of disreputable local and international figures, raises eyebrows not only in the Southeast but also all over Nigeria.
With the exception of Lagos State, no other state has had any measure of success in guided, but nevertheless democratic, governorship succession. Not in the Southeast, nor in the North. Mr Okorocha will hope to buck the trend if he can manage by dint of legitimate balloting to get his protégé and in-law elected into office. He himself has neither been an instant success as governor nor an enduring success, given his many questionable policies and projects. But even if he gets Mr Nwosu to occupy the Government House in Owerri, there is nothing to suggest that his trust in his chosen successor’s talents and the Owerri APC leaders’ conviction that he best approximates the state’s needs are unimpeachable.
It is of course assumed that when the time comes for the party to elect its standard-bearer Mr Okorocha will let the party’s internal processes function transparently. Equally, when it comes to statewide polls in 2019, it is hoped that he will neither contemplate nor countenance the erection of obstacles designed to thwart popular will. He may have the tendency to dominate everything around him, as many in the state and outside have suggested, but it is expected that beyond developing a preference for a candidate and announcing it, Mr Okorocha will do nothing to undermine the system. Should he do what is right, it will be unusual of him; but it will greatly enhance his public confession as a democrat and stand the state in good stead to reinforce its claim to regional and Igbo leadership.
