The One Term Promise and Okorocha Cocktails of Lies By John Mgbe I have listened with shock and disbelief Governor Rochas Okorocha’s denial that he did not at any time make a promise or a pledge of serving just a term of four years if elected governor in 2011. Those who are religious will also describe it as a vow. I have decided to use the word “VOW” so that the reader can understand the seriousness of the issue under discussion. The Wikipedia Online dictionary defines “vow” as (1) a solemn promise, pledge or personal commitment: a vow of secrecy “(2) a solemn promise made to a deity, or saint committing oneself to an act, service or condition; (3) a solemn or earnest declaration to God or a saint; ………” In order to understand the enormity of the issue at stake, let us take a trip to the BOOK of LIFE in order to hear from the Supreme Immanent Triune Deity (God) on the issue of the consequences and implications of getting involved in a vow which one does not intend to fulfil. The Book of James 5-12 states thus: “But above all my brothers do not swear either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation. “Again, The Book of Deutronomy23:21-23 states thus: “If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you and you will be guilty of sin. You shall be careful to do what has passed your lips, for you have voluntarily vowed to the Lord your God what you have promised with your mouth.” The Book of Numbers 30:1-16 says: ”Moses says to the head of the tribes of the people of Israel saying: “This is what the Lord has commanded. If a man vows a vow to the Lord or swears on oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break it, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” In the same vein, the Bible is replete with several passages that talk about the consequences of breaking a vow. Since I am not in a catechism or theology class coupled with the constraints/paucity of space, I do not wish to veer into that realm in this discussion. We have a glut of evangelists in the Journalism profession who may wish to expand that area of discussion-i.e. the consequences of treating our vows with levity, contempt , and disdain. In his recent broadcast, I was disorientated when Governor Okorocha said that there was no time he said he would serve just one term of four years. According to him, all he said was that his government, if voted into power, would be “a 90 – minutes in Entebbe” (whatever that means). I am totally disappointed that a governor who gives the impression of being a Charismatic Christian of Catholic Church extraction could exhibit such barefaced denial on a statement which he made in the midst of a sea of humanity who thronged Rosy Arts Theatre, Owerri on Friday 7th January, 2011 to celebrate his reconciliation with Chief Martin Agbaso (Ochudo). Chief Agbaso was the then Czar/the big Cock in the All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA) Owerri. It is deplorable that a governor who has made so much show about religiosity should be found so remiss and empty on such a simple issue as owing up to a statement he voluntarily made before a global audience. This is very tragic indeed. In this State of Imo, we have a governor who has built an exotic Government House Chapel; those who have entered there say it’s a great place; he has decreed that the Catholic Prayer -The Angelus- must be prayed for 10 minutes by the workers on Imo State Government Pay roll on each working day and he will hardly end a sentence without alluding to the need to walk in the ways of the Lord. It rankles that such a politician does not have any qualms in denying a vow which he made in our very eyes -a vow which actually facilitated the massive support we extended to him in the 2011 governorship poll. Our God is a jealous God who will not share his honour; those who make it through God’s intervention and want to donate it to demi – gods or shrines will fail. My grouse is that I was very deeply embedded in the APGA/Okorocha’s governorship agenda of 2011. Above all, as a media professional (volunteer) who was working with the Media Coordinator, the Late Lolo Ogoke, I personally covered the event where Owelle Okorocha announced to the humanity who thronged ROSY ARTS Theater, Ikenegbu that: ”I will serve only a term of four years and hand over to Owerri zone”. I am writing this viewpoint to expose the abysmal hypocrisy of some politicians who masquerade as men of God in the political landscape of Imo State even when they are the face of Judas Iscariot. In a normal situation, journalists who cover events should uncover what transpired so that society can know what is happening. This is why the Press is described as the Fourth Estate; it’s a mirror through which society can take a look at itself in order to know where it stands. So, I appeal to our journalists and public commentators to make this gubernatorial denial an issue in order to guard against a reoccurrence. It is the task of media professionals to hold their leaders to account. This is the only way we can build strong political institutions. There is something fundamentally dangerous in a situation where a state governor does not feel any qualm of conscience in disseminating falsehood to the populace. It is a gratuitous insult on those of us who stayed by him as volunteers in the struggle to actualize his governorship agenda. Perhaps, for the umpteenth time, I must state vehemently that Governor Okorocha’s denial that he did not promise or undertake to serve just one term and hand over to Owerri zone is a falsehood of gargantuan proportion; I don’t remember when last I heard this magnitude of fabricated mendacity from a person in his social class. It rankles that very often Governor Okorocha talks before he thinks; he often prides himself as the only cock that crows in Imo State, nay, in Igbo land. This is a very dangerous character flaw which bodes no good for the populace in Imo State. Okorocha’s promise or vow to serve one tenure and hand over to Owerri zone was voluntarily made in a public forum where the populace or what may be better put as “We the People” gathered to celebrate his reconciliation with Chief Martin Agbaso who Owelle Okorocha on that occasion described as “the General of the Army who would not let me pass.” So, the vow is sacrosanct and ought to be actualized. It is my opinion that a leader who cannot stand by his vow is a danger to society, more so, in a democracy. I cannot in conscience join the maddening crowd who have joined the choir of praise singers who incessantly praise Governor Okorocha for real and imaginary feats. I see such sycophants as belonging to the family of goats who must always follow the man that is carrying the palm frond. It’s unfortunate; It’s a shame to the various social clusters in Imo State whose members keep mum in the face of the dictatorship of the rule of law which Okorocha’s Administration represents. In fact , Governor Okorocha even went further to tell us that:” only dunces repeat classes; as a brilliant student, I cannot repeat the governorship class. I will serve one tenure and hand over to Owerri zone and move to Abuja where I belong”. So, it is deplorable that a politician who said all these in public is today very desperate to do a second tenure. Is there no conscience in politics? In spite of so much religiosity in this Administration, there is so much profanity? Why is this so? Furthermore, during Owelle’s electioneering campaign rally in Emekuku in Owerri North in March 2011, this is what Owelle Okorocha said: ”I will not change any council chairman or councilor; they have a tenure. At the end of their tenure , there will be election. I will be too busy to start thinking of a new election. I intend to pay Council chairmen their full money as it comes from the Federal Government so that they can start developing the local areas”. Please read the report on page 6 of the White Paper newspaper of Friday, March 25-27th 2011. But did Governor Okorocha observe his vow not to sack or disband the LGAs- a vow he made in the presence of an overflowing crowd that thronged the campaign ground? He took the oath of office and oath of allegiance on May, 29th, 2011. On the 6th day of June, 2011-a week after his inauguration- he made his maiden broadcast to the populace. In that provocative broadcast, he dissolved the 27 Local Government Councils and sacked the 10,000 youths who were employed by his predecessor, Chief Ikedi Ohakim. He dissolved the Imo Traditional Rulers’ Council and announced other draconian measures which shocked right thinking members of society. When reminded of his campaign promise that he would not dissolve the Local Councils, Governor Okorocha replied with an imperial bravado: ”I don’t believe in the rule of law; I don’t believe in due process; it slows me down”. It is my opinion that a politician who does not see anything wrong in announcing with glee his contempt for rule of law and due process is not worthy of being given the levers of power in any democratic ambience. It does not matter that such a leader is mounting air conditioners in the streets of Owerri municipality or tarring the roads with gold and diamonds or even throwing money about to praise singers as if money was going out of use. Such a leader is a danger to democracy and I cannot be part of those who pour encomiums on such aperson. The Local Government Monthly Allocations: Did Governor Okorocha keep his vow “to pay Council chairmen their full money as it comes from the Federal Government so that they can start developing the local areas”? Never; in fact there is no evidence that he still remembers the vow at all. The sad fact is that Governor Okorocha has virtually abolished the Local Government tier in Imo State in preference to what he calls “Community Government Councils (CGCs)”. The CGC is a parallel tier of government in which the traditional rulers hold sway and funds for the development of the Local Government Areas are channeled through the traditional rulers. Today in Imo state, the Local Government tier has become irrelevant as they have become mere antiques which exist only on paper. In this scenario, the monthly allocations to the LGAs are handled as mere petty cash by Governor Okorocha. How about Okorocha’s vow to conduct Local Government Election as at when due? It is pathetic to say that governor Okorocha no longer remembers that there is anything called Local Government election in the Constitution. He changes Local Government officials in the same way a sole proprietary business sacks and recruits staff; he appoints new officials at the drop of a hat. When it pleases him, he appoints sole administrators; at other times, he prefers to use Transitional Chairmen to run the Councils. The LG Councils in Imo State are run as if they were Rochas Foundation Business Empire – the sole proprietary business of Governor Rochas Okorocha. It is on the grounds of Governor Okorocha’s contempt for the rule of law and due process that I have persistently maintained that we are not practising democracy in Imo State. We seem to be practising Ochlocracy or Mobocracy or even a government of Plutocracy in Imo State. Ochlocracy may be defined as “mob rule” and a mob could be defined as a group without a leader or any social group that is bereft of any organized rules of engagement. In the same vein, Mobocracy has been defined by the Wikipedia online dictionary as “Political control by a mob or the mass of common people as the source of political power.” Plutocracy is a government by the rich/wealthy. It rankles that Governor Okorocha whose 2011 governorship victory was buoyed by the actions and inactions of President Jonathan is today the only governor in the South East who is hostile to President Jonathan’s second tenure bid. It is even pathetic that Governor Okorocha who has been vehement in denouncing President Jonathan for bearing Igbo names of Azikiwe and Ebele recently announced to a stunned audience in a political rally in Owerri that the great grandmother of Buhari was an Igbo woman and Buhari’s other name is Okechukwu .This is terrible indeed! We are making much ado about morality because it was the revered United States President, George Bush (Snr) who once said something to the effect that “What Africa needs is strong political institutions and not powerful or strong politicians.” You cannot build a strong political system on a weak moral or legal base. Yes, it was the revered jurist, Baron Denning, who once held that “You cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stay there. It will fall.” Records show that the former United States President, George Bush (Snr) lost his second term bid as President of United States because of a failed promise he made while campaigning in 1988. What happened on that occasion was that in 1988, George Bush (Snr) ran a successful campaign to become President of United States. In his desperation to win the election, he promised that he would not raise taxes. Hear George Bush: ”watch my lips, I will not raise taxes.“ He won the poll when he defeated his Democratic opponent, Michael Dukakis. George Bush was a very effective President who performed so well on Foreign Policy. He carried out successful military incursions in Panama and the Persian Gulf. It was under his watch that Berlin Wall collapsed in 1989. He also presided over the fall of Soviet Union (U.S.S.R) which later splintered to 15 sovereign states. In spite of these record shattering achievements, the voters in the United States voted him out and denied him a second tenure. Their grouse was that in 1988, he (George Bush) had vowed that he would not raise taxes during his rule. Unfortunately, as a result of the stark economic realities that faced him when he became President, he reneged on the promise when he signed an increase in taxes which Congress had passed. In spite of his sagacity and effectiveness in government, the voters dumped him because he was seen to be dishonest and unreliable because he failed to keep his vow or promise of not increasing taxes. We draw attention to these issues because It was the revered scholar/philosopher, ROUSSEAU who warned that: ”As soon as any man says of the affairs of state, “what does it matter to me?” the state may be given up for lost”. Furthermore, It was Edmund Burke who once posited that “all that is necessary for the forces of evil to triumph is for enough good men to do nothing”. It is on this account that we media professionals take the burden of holding our leaders to account. Again, while denouncing leaders who are not loyal to their promises, the great ZIK said in his poem entitled: ”Unfulfilled Promises “ which is one of the poems in his book: ”Civil War Soliloquies” page 43: the Great ZIK said :”The worst of sins committed by our friends are promises disguised to gain their ends”. He said that such leaders were dangerous in a political environment. In conclusion, it is my opinion that our governor, Owelle Okorocha, has tried a lot within his abilities in order to transform Imo State. We are grateful to him for “condescending” to serve us as governor. In any case, it is time for him to leave in faithful compliance with his vow before God and man, more so, since promise is a social debt. It was just one act of disobedience that caused Moses of the Bible not to see the Promised Land; yes, it’s one act of disobedience that caused the wife of Lot to turn to a pillar of salt after she looked back at Sodom (Genesis 19). Again, the revered poet, George Santayana, once posited that “ Those who don’t learn from historyrepeat their mistakes.” Mgbe writes from Orlu, Imo State and can be reached on johnmgbe@yahoo
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 18:45:05 +0000
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