GOVERNOR OKOROCHA IS A Performer -Former Governorship Aspirant, Barr. Egwim

Fondly called Bashorun, a Yoruba Chieftaincy title he got in the South Western part of the country because of his detribalized habit, Barr. Innocent Egwim hails from Imo State, and he is a former Governorship aspirant under PDP in the last election.

However, Barrister Egwim, who is the President General of his community, now works and supports the administration of Governor Rochas Owelle Okorocha of the state.

In this interview, he bares his mind on the government of Okorocha and why he is supporting him though he is from the rival All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Why did you decide to support the present government, which is from a rival party

Yes, I am a card carrying member of the PDP, but the first thing is that I am an Imolite, thus I have to support anything that is good for Imo State. If Governor Rochas Okorocha is performing very well, I don't see reason why we should not all give him our support. He has been doing well in all the local governments irrespective of party differences.

Many people would believe you got something from the governor for supporting him as a member of the PDP

To the contrary, like I have said many times, I am a contended man; I am not getting anything from him. The issue is that the man is progressive, even in my locality where I come from, there is government presence. I am the President General of my town, which cuts across party lines. It's not possible that we will not support such a positive minded person, when he's making things to happen and that is what we want, we are progressives, like I said. He is not looking at party lines before developing any area in Imo State, so he deserved to be supported to achieve more success.

Does it mean you are joining APGA soon, since you are singing the praises of the Governor

Let me tell, you as provided by the 1999 constitution as amended, even the one amended in 2011, you are free to switch political parties, but that is not the issue here, we share the same ideology, what matters most is for you to deliver the dividends of democracy to your people, and the man, Owelle Okorocha is doing that, even the poorest people in Imo State are feeling his good impact.

In Imo State, you don't pay school fees and this has gone a long way to encourage every parent, who laboured to send their children to school now enjoying free education. So, it's not about any party now, though you can say I am on the periphery of going there. All we need is to support the development of Imo State in general and he is on the right track

Okay, are you planning to join APGA

I am not going to APGA, we are working with progressive minds, the Governor is a progressive person, he his somebody who can wake up tomorrow and declare for another party if they are not allowing him to perform his work. If APGA today continues to toe the progressive line and the PDP is not ready, we will be forced to team up with them

Don't you think this move can be termed as anti-party

This is not anti-party, it's a selfless service, the people of Isokpo in Edeato Local Government elected me their President General irrespective of the party and the Governor is the Leader of the state. Before now, we did not have it so good. He has provided water for us, the community has not had electricity for years, he has given us electricity, I am not working with him because of party, rather I want to make sure our community is developed, he does not ask me about my party before we started working to develop my area.

But, really what are some of the achievements of the Governor

 You see, some of us went into politics to make changes, not for what we want to gain in it. I am contended with what I have, and I am sure that is the reason somebody like the governor is in politics. He runs free education in the state up to tertiary education level, as far as the President General or the King of your community confirms you as an Imo State indigene, you will enjoy the benefit. He moves forward to say at least he would develop 20 kilometres of roads in all the local government areas and he's doing that. He has also commenced the process of building modern primary schools in all the councils as it is done in developed countries.

He's also building industries in all the local government areas. He has started building 5 star hotels in each of the three Senatorial districts; Orlu, Okigwe and Owerri. Now there is a dual carriage way in Orlu and Okigwe, he has demolished some of the old markets and has started building modern markets as it is obtainable in the UK. He has blocked all loopholes in government, where people were stealing our money. 99% of what he received from the Federal Government goes to the payment of civil servants' salaries, whereas the former government was just planting flowers.

He has design many ways of generating funds for the state, he told some of the graduating students not  to wait for white-collar jobs, but to go to their villages and meet with their President-General or king and that they will go through that process to make sure everybody gets a feel of the government. In Imo State, every civil servant is on uniform, that's an indication of people working in harmony with seriousness. Civil servants in Imo earn 22,000 naira as minimum wage instead of the federal government approved 18,000, its to encourage the people because they still have to manage the money. So, he has done a lot, that is why we must support him, I am contended like I said; he's not giving me any money.

What is your relationship with the Governor like

 There is no personal relationship between us, I am an Imolite and if I see what is good for my state, I must support it.

Will I be right to say that the problem that came up in your party, PDP during the last election aided your decision to align with the present government

The former Governor was clearly not acceptable to the electorate, Ikedi Ohakim built Imo government house with N439,000,000, when Okorocha came in he saw that the Deputy Governor was staying in a rented apartment, so he called the same engineer who was used by Ohakim to help build two of the same structure and the man gave him a budget of over N100 million, but the governor said, 'no we don't have that kind of money and we need this structure.' The man later agreed and built two of the same structure with the same amount of money Ohakim used to build one, the Deputy Governor and the First Lady's office. You need to see the good structures he has been building for government officials; and the new Concorde Hotel is awesome.

I will be so daft, with my age with all the experience I have garnered living in the west seeing how things are being developed, not to support a governor that is doing same for my state. The former governor was not the listening type, that was part of why he failed, that was why after the Supreme Court judgment, he was nowhere to be found because his people don't like him. I am not on the payroll of the governor, but he is on the right track, that's why he is getting all the support.

But, many governors have done such things initially in the past and they later began to misbehave, do you think this one would be different

 I don't see that happening in this case; the governor has said in two years of his administration, other state governors will be coming to copy what we do here. He has shown that he is there with what he has done; he has on-going projects in all the local government areas with the provision of potable water, roads, hospitals, schools and so on. In my community, we never had any tarred road, but now about 5 tarred roads are coming. He has constituted a Committee on his Agricultural Policy of which I am a member. We call it IMOTHAI, it is in partnership with Thailand Government to develop our agricultural system. The Governor said he didn't want to come back in 2015, but he wanted to work hard and lay something on the table so that people can beg him and cry that he should come back.  

Are you planning to contest for governorship position in 2015

Of course yes, in fact if any other election is coming up, even if its Chairmanship, I will contest, I am ready to serve my state in any area so far it will give me the opportunity to impact on people.  I can contest under any party, be it PDP or even APGA. But that's not the issue; I want my people to always remember that it was during the time of my reign as President-General that all these things came into our village

Do you think the Governor's philanthropic nature helped him to do all that he has been doing

It's not really about that, but it's the goal and the drive he has to make sure he develops the state, many private schools in Imo State are now closing down and others are reducing their school fees because the Governor has made public primary schools attractive with no cost to the parents. All the children of the Governor attend schools in the country; none of them is studying abroad, not that I am praising him unnecessarily, but these are the things many do not know.

What will the state look like after his tenure

Very peaceful and developed, he has been able to curb kidnapping in the state to a large extent, he made a pledge of N1 million for people who can give information about kidnappers, he has even increased it to 5million naira for anybody who has tips because all these people are also human beings, they live around us. He has made numbers available for people to call. I see Imo as the main hub of Nigeria.

Do you think he measured up to being given Ikemba title left by the late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu

I am surprised you are still asking this, he is the best person, you can see the accolades he got during the burial of Chief Ojukwu, not only from Imo State indigenes, but from the entire Ibos.

June 18, 2012