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Tag: Okorocha

  • Leaders hail Okorocha

    Leaders hail Okorocha

    A former Military President, General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (rtd) and Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai have praised Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha for establishing schools, among other things, in Nigeria.

    Both leaders gave the commendation during the governor’s 50th birthday celebration and the 10th anniversary of the Rochas Foundation Colleges.

    The five colleges of Rochas Foundation are located in Owerri and Ogboko, Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo State, Ibadan, Oyo State, Jos, Plateau State and Kano.

    General Babangida, who chaired the occasion, described Okorocha as a man of many parts who has excelled in most of his endeavours. He further stressed that the 50th birthday of the governor is a celebration of a vision that laid the foundation for the total eradication of ignorance, poverty and hopelessness in the life of many Nigerian children.

    He further described Rochas Foundation Colleges as an institution of unity and national integration, which has continued to erase lines of differences in religion, ethnicity and class in Nigeria.

    Babangida said the colleges, which offer free tuition and accommodation for students from diverse background, is a great achievement that even politics has failed to achieve in the country, adding that the foundation has achieved a lot as it has graduated students from both secondary and tertiary institutions in the last 10 years.

    He said: “From a lowly beginning of a former street hawker, a classroom teacher, former member of Constitutional Conference, a member of Federal Character Commission and Boards, one who has twice sought to rule the country and a philanthropist of repute, Owelle has stories to tell having achieved all these in 50 years.”

    Babangida also congratulated Okorocha on the infrastructural development in the state under his Rescue Mission Agenda in the last 17 months, but the retired general urged the governor to close ranks with all to continue the good work especially in the areas of free education and attraction of foreign investment for development of tourism industry in the state.

    Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said that time has come for African leaders and governments to borrow a leaf from the programmes of Rochas Foundation and change their attitude towards the less-privileged people in the society.

    According to him, Rochas Foundation is a demonstration of individual commitment and dedication to help the African child to overcome ignorance and poverty through the provision of free and quality education, especially for the less-privileged people.

    He therefore congratulated the Governor on his birthday and the 10th anniversary of the Rochas Foundation, urging the graduating students to use the opportunity of the education to become good ambassadors of the country.

    In her welcome address, the Acting Director-General of the Foundation, Miss Uloma Okorocha who is the governor’s first daughter, said the 10 years of the foundation’s existence has been most rewarding; having started in Owerri with a few students, adding that the foundation currently boasts over 6,000 students.

    Several state governors graced the occasion while others who could not attend, sent their deputies.

     

  • Nigeria’s democracy is for a clique, says Okorocha

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha yesterday described Nigeria’s democracy as a “democracy of the clique”.

    He said Nigeria’s democracy must be redefined to meet the yearnings of the masses.

    Okorocha spoke in Abuja at the public presentation of a book, entitled: “An Assessment of the Nigerian University Environment”.

    He said: “Democracy is supposed to be the government of the people, by the people and for the people, but it is a democracy of the few, by the few and for the people. Or we can say our democracy is the government of the clique, by the clique and for the clique. There is need for us to redefine democracy in Nigeria.”

    The governor called for an overhaul of the education system. He said education should be made free and given top priority.

    Okorocha said: “We must give priority to education and make it free. If not, the problems of Nigeria will not stop.

    “We are repackaging education in Imo State. Our security votes have been diverted to education. Education should be made free and there should be punishment for any parent, who does not allow a child to go to school.

    “We must change our educational system and make universities have areas of specialisation. There is no more professionalism because there is no specialisation. I propose that we establish a University of Energy to end our problem in the power sector.”

    Minister of Information Labaran Maku attributed the declining state of education in the country to the replacement of the Teachers Grade 2 Certificate with the National Certificate in Education (NCE).

    He said the root cause of the education sector’s problems is at the primary and secondary level.

    Maku said: “Until primary and secondary schools are properly managed, the country can never get it right. You can never be a good student in the university, if you had no good foundation from the primary and secondary school.”

    He urged corporate organisations to support the sector

    The author of the book, Mr. Temple Onyeukwu, spoke on the need to streamline certain examinations, especially the Post Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), so that it would not clash with other examinations.

     

  • ALGON to Okorocha: respect judgment on 27 councils

    ALGON to Okorocha: respect judgment on 27 councils

    Local Government chairmen yesterday resolved to push for financial autonomy for the grassroots administration in the expected new constitution.

    At the end of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Abuja, the chairmen urged Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha to abide by the judgment of the Court of Appeal and ensure that the 27 local council chairmen are restored to office with all the outstanding statutory allocations due to them paid.

    In a communiqué read by National President of ALGON, Nwabueze Okafor, the Chairmen resolved to fight for the financial and administrative autonomy of the local councils.

    Okafor said: “ALGON NEC came up with resolutions that the issues relating to the autonomy of Local Government administration should not be subject of negotiation. We believe that local councils are about the most viable platforms to relate to the grassroots and bring development to the people of Nigeria . We have resolved to continue to pursue the financial and administrative autonomy of the local government system in Nigeria.”

    In the communiqué, ALGON said it will also fight to ensure that elections are conducted in those councils where there are no elected executives.

    He listed states that have so far complied with the constitutional provision by conducting local government elections to include, Enugu, Lagos, and Akwa Ibom…

    While insisting that ALGON will fight to see to the implementation Section 7 of the constitution which provides for democratically elected council executives, he appealed to governors to conduct elections into the local councils.

    He said the body will encourage states to continue to support local government authorities in their areas as it is through this avenue that development can reach the grassroots.

    Okafor expressed concern over the face-off between the Imo State Government and the chairmen of the councils.

    The association urged the Imo state government to take urgent steps to arrest the near-anarchy looming in the state by releasing accumulated funds belonging to the councils so that they can be used for development which has been stagnated since the conflict started.

    “NEC also expressed concern that the issues relating to the face-off between the. government of Imo state and the local council chairmen has become a festering one and one that is casting a serious slur on democracy in Nigeria . The NEC believes that democracy should not just start and end with the Federal and state governments, but that democracy should also be made to take root at the local government levels. It is the position of ALGON NEC that the government of Imo state should just respect the rulings of the Appeal Court to restore the chairmen to their offices but it should try to restore to them the full compliments of their offices.

    “In this regard, ALGON in its communiqué urges the Imo state governor to ensure that the chairmen have access to all the funds that have accrued to their councils so that they can effectively discharge their functions.”

    He said the NEC decided to expand the presentation made earlier on the review of the constitution by setting up a committee to examine laws and status that affect the operation of local government administration in the country.

    He said the intention is to identify all areas where there are conflicts and areas that may be impeding the smooth operation of councils and then come up with positions that will be forwarded to the constitution review committee.

    About 20 local government chairmen made up those elected through a democratic process attended the meeting.