Some statues as seen in Imo State
After unveiling the statues of two African presidents, Jacob Zuma
of South Africa and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia, Imo State Governor
Rochas Okorocha is set to unveil 10 more statues.
Even though his actions had generated lots of controversies,
Saturday PUNCH learnt on Friday that the governor would soon unveil more
statues.
A correspondent visited the Ikemba Ojukwu Centre in Owerri, Imo
State capital, where the statues were erected, but security men didn’t
allow him to enter.
However, a top Government House official told a correspondent that
Okorocha was set to unveil statues of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo; a former Vice-President, Alex Ekwueme; a former Senate
President, late Evans Enwerem; and the first civilian Imo State
Governor, Sam Mbakwe.
According to the source, others whose statues would soon be
unveiled are those of the first Nigerian President, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe;
former Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa; late sage, Obafemi Awolowo; and
Ghanaian President, Nana Akufo-Addo.
The source said that of Akufo-Addo would be unveiled at a ceremony when he visits the state soon.
The government official said the idea of unveiling the statues was
to celebrate leaders, who had through “selfless efforts” contributed to
the development of the state, Nigeria and the African continent.
The source said, “The governor is interested in celebrating
those who have contributed to the development of mankind, especially on
the African continent. In the years to come, these leaders will be no
more but their statues will keep them evergreen in the minds of the
people.
“With the statues, they have been inducted into the Imo Hall of
Fame and have received the highest award in the state called the Imo
Merits Award.”
When asked how much each statue cost the state government, the
official said they were not as expensive as people were exaggerating.
“It is not as costly as people had exaggerated. Though I don’t
know the exact amount, the government cannot use about N500m to erect
one statue. It is not possible. The governor is a prudent manager of
resources,” he said.
Meanwhile, a former governor of the state, Ikedi Ohakim, has
criticised Okorocha for spending state resources on building statues.
Ohakim, who handed power over to Okorocha in 2011, said that his
successor had impoverished the people and failed “comprehensively” in
terms of leadership and development.
He said, “Should I praise Okorocha because civil servants now
receive half of their salaries instead of 100 per cent? Should I praise
his government for owing pensioners for over 30 months and recently
issuing dud cheques to them? What exactly are those good works for which
I was supposed to be showering praises on the governor?
“The fact is that no right-thinking Nigerian can praise Rochas.
Our biggest industry, education, is in a free fall. Youth unemployment
has risen to an unprecedented height. Executive promises are discarded
like used napkins like the promise of conducting local government area
election, which has been made eight times but discarded eight times.
“Quality and due process have been relegated to the background,
leading to an unmitigated infrastructural disaster like roads
collapsing within 90 days. There is also a deliberate strategy to
destroy our judicial system.
“Court orders are hardly obeyed, judicial quarters are
bulldozed with recklessness and as of today, judicial officers are being
owed 11 months’ salaries, while monuments costing hundreds of millions
of naira are being mounted for foreign dignitaries and whereas our
children are killed in their countries.”
Similarly, a group called the Igbo National Council said it was a
show of shame by the Okorocha administration to have erected Zuma’s
statue in the state.
INC also said that the naming of a street in Owerri after Zuma was
unfortunate. INC President, Chilos Godsent, told Saturday PUNCH that
South Africa, in recent times, had recorded the “wanton killing of many
Igbo youths who are doing business or working in South Africa in the
name of xenophobia.”
He said, “Zuma cannot be said to be a Nigerian or an Igbo
patriot; he has not contributed in any capacity to the well-being of Imo
State indigenes or the Igbo.”
INC said the INC was, therefore, calling on Okorocha “to
immediately reverse the naming of a street in Owerri after Zuma and
dismantle his statue.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment