No one visits New York and misses the stately Statue of Liberty on the harbour. Owerri, the Imo State capital, is fast becoming a city of monuments, drawing admirers and some critics, OKODILI NDIDI writes
For those who know Owerri, the Imo State capital, Concorde Boulevard, a serene double-lane road, where the Ojukwu Centre and the Heroes’ Square are located, has suddenly become a tourist attraction. The once sleepy road now buzzes with activities as fun seekers and local tourists troop in to catch a glimpse of the gigantic statues erected by the state government in honour of renowned African leaders and other distinguished individuals who have excelled in their chosen disciplines and contributed to the enhancement of humanity.
Before now, residents and visitors paid little attention to the statues covered with flags of various countries. That changed when the state government unveiled one of them, which turned out to be that of South African President, Jacob Zuma, who was in the state for a two-day visit.
The unveiling of the Zuma statue sparked off widespread reactions in the social media and other news platforms. The state governor, Rochas Okorocha was severely criticised for honouring the South African president who was also admitted into the Imo Hall of Fame and conferred with the state merit award.
Some of the critics, especially members of the opposition party, knocked the state government for deploying state resources into erecting a statue for a man that is facing corruption charges in his country.
They alleged that a whopping N520 million was spent in erecting the statues, “while pensioners and indigenes of the state are dying as a result of abject poverty”.
The state government had in the last one month ceremonially unveiled the statues of three African Presidents which include that of the Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia.
Also condemning the erection of the statues the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, (SERAP) asked Dr Muhammad Isah, Acting Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, Acting Chairman of Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to “jointly investigate the governor over apparent conflict of interests situation and abuse of office.
The organisation said, “Such investigation would help to improve public confidence in public authorities, and minimise the risks of bad government by public officials.”
In a petition signed by SERAP Executive Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni the organisation expressed “serious concern that Governor Okorocha may have spent over N1 billion of public funds to build statues of South African President Jacob Zuma and Liberian President Mrs Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.”
The state government does not have any apology for the critics. The Imo governor, while speaking during the visit of one of the presidents, said that the state government will continue to honour African leaders who have promoted development and unity in the continent while they are still alive.
He said that by so doing, they will be stimulated to do more for the continent, while others will be motivated to add their quota.
Also responding to the reactions that trailed the Zuma’s statue, the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Mr. Sam Onwuemeodo, said in a statement made available to journalists that, “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 both in the short-run and in the long-run, the opposition in the state, out of glaring frustration, decided to make much ado in the social media over the statue of Zuma in Owerri. Those of the former Vice President Dr. Alex Ekwueme and others had earlier been unveiled”.
He continued that, saying, “These enemies of our people did not see the good things associated with Mr. Zuma’s visit or what it portends for the State, for good, but only saw the statue that was erected as an encouragement to the man.
“For the avoidance of doubt, when we talk about opposition in Imo, we are talking about only three people. And because they are only three, they recruited as many young people as possible and unleashed them on the social media. One could have twenty networks in different names just to deceive the general public.
“Few days before the coming of President Zuma, we had told the world the reasons for his coming, and principally for the signing of MoU between Jacob Zuma Education Foundation and Rochas Foundation College of Africa.
“When the time comes, we will catalogue Rochas’ achievements and challenge opponents or contenders to display theirs. You do not ask for people’s mandate in a vacuum. There must be a basis for that. That is the edge we have over them in quantum.
The governor’s aide also lampooned SERAP over the call for the governor’s probe over the visit of the African Presidents.
He said, “Right from the outset, we had given indications on the purpose of the coming of these great leaders and who invited them…If SERAP had meant to do a good Job, they would have resolved the issue of invitations and their contents, to ascertain whether they came on the invitation of the government or the Rochas Foundation College of Africa. The language of SERAP obviously would not have been the same if they had taken that step.
“SERAP would have also helped the public by quoting any known law or ordinance barring the governor from receiving or hosting the visiting leaders not minding who invited them or which body invited them.
Our concern too is that people deliberately tell unfounded lies. A week ago, all the newspapers had reports on states owing salaries and the chairman of the Imo State branch of NLC, Comrade Austin Chilakpa said the “State government is up to date in the payment of workers’ salary” (see The Nation, Sunday, November 5). In other words, the state does not owe workers including teachers. On the issue of pension, the government cleared all the arrears in December 2016 and has begun to pay monthly. These pieces of information have been there in public domain”.
Also defending the action of the state government, is the Imo business community under the aegis of the Imo Economic Development Initiative.
It described Zuma’s visit as a major boost to the economic blueprint of the state.
A member of the business community and Chairman of the Germaine Group, Chief Jerry Chukwueke, told The Nation in an exclusive interview that the benefits accruable from the visit far outweighs the cost and whatever troubles the state government went through to host President Zuma.
According to him, there was robust engagement with the business community in the South African delegation led by the President, and there were mutual agreements in the power and gas sector, agriculture and hospitality industry. This, he said, will go a long way to help actualise the vision of the group, which is to revive the economy of the state and create employment for the youths.
Speaking further, he said, “As part of the outcome of our engagements, the South African President has approved the setting up of a Consulate in Owerri and this means that people travelling to South Africa from the Southeast can process their visas and other related business documents directly in Owerri with much ease.
“Again the President has also approved the establishment of a Payment Centre in Imo State, where all business payments are made and credit card obtained, which can be used for business transactions in South Africa. You can imagine the volume of Internally Generated that will accrue to the state and the number of jobs that will be created”.
The business mogul, also revealed that the South African President in the course of the engagement with the business community, which included renowned businessmen like Pascal Dozie, Chairman Diamond bank, Chief Leo Stan Eke, Chairman Zinox Computer and Innocent Chukwumah, Chairman Innoson Motors, among others, agreed on a partnership between the South African Airline and Imo International Cargo Airport.
“We have as a matter of fact set up a ten-man committee made up of five people from each side and we will be having our first meeting next month in South Africa. We are looking forward to further engaging the South African government to see how we can harness their huge expertise in agriculture, mining and the automotive industry. So like I said, the benefit of the visit is far more than the cost “, he stressed.
However, despite the outcry over the visits of the African leaders and the erection of their statues, non-partisan groups and opinion leaders have continued to praise the state government for attracting direct investments to the state through the invitation of world leaders to the state.
They argued that the trend has opened up the state, especially its massive investment opportunities to the world with its attendant benefits.
The National President of the Main Igbo Movement, Nze Simeon Okokwe, chided those maligning the governor for hosting and erecting the statues of the African leaders.
He said, “What the governor has done is a show of goodwill to the African leaders to show them how much we appreciate them in Imo state and that can propel them to doing whatever that is within their capacity to build economic and social relationship with the State.
“Those quoting outrageous sums of money as being used for the erection of the statue of President Zuma and others are either naïve or out rightly mischievous. Because how can a shrewd businessman like Governor Okorocha waste such sum of money erecting statues. The claim is unfounded and malicious”.
