Last week I told you that I will reveal the funds of Owerri West LGA that was squandered by Governor Rochas Okorocha. The Owerri West Local Government Council in Imo State of Nigeria was created by the Federal Government of Nigeria in 1996, with the headquarters at Umuguma. This Local Government area is located at the Rain Forest Zone about 120 kilometers North of the Atlantic Coast and Shares boundaries with Ngor Okpala Local Government in the South, Owerri Municipal Council by the East, Mbaitoli Local Government by the North, and Ohaji Egbema Local Government by the West. Owerri West LGA has places like Oforola, Umuoma Nkede, Emeabiam, Okolochi, Obinze, Obinze, Avu, Umuguma, Umudibia Nekede, Ohii, Amakohia-Ubi, Ihiagwa, Eziobodo, Umuokpo Emeabiam, Irette, Okuku, Umunwoha (Orogwe).
If you visit the areas mentioned that make up Owerri West LGA you will notice the level of poverty and unemployment in the area. The standard of education in this council area has gone down to an alarming rate, just like amenities such as safe water, good roads, and basic health care are non-existent in the area. Yet 4.7 billion naira came into Owerri West LGA from May 2011 to December 2013 as FG allocation. What happened to the 4.7 billion naira? The money developed wings. This money would have developed this area a great deal if it was not squandered by Governor Rochas Okorocha.
But the people of Owerri zone (Owerri West, Owerri North, and Owerri Municipal) played important roles in the enthronement of Governor Rochas Okorocha. I remember when clad in shinning white buba with red cap to match, Owelle Rochas Okorocha approached a waiting crowd in Owerri asking for their support. It was the 2011 electioneering period in Imo state of Nigeria. With the confidence of his gift of gab, his chest heaved as he spoke to the crowd ‘ I will change your life if you vote for me as the governor of Imo state. I will employ thousands of our youths within my first 100 days in office. I am on a rescue mission. Imo must be better’ he said.
The words rescue mission immediately gained currency in the Imo state political lexicon. ‘I am on a mission to rescue Imo from the shackles of poverty and under-development. Vote for me as your governor’ he continued. The crowd swayed like blades of grasses on a field and chanted with happiness, Owelle! Owelle!!
Emotions swelled to the tunes of his utopian promises. Like a malignant tumor it spread through the heads of the people. Promises of better future clouded the eyes of the people of Imo State. Chants of Ikiri must go rented the air. The people marched with Owelle into the streets of Owerri shouting ‘ Okorocha ka anyi ge so’
His sweet talks paralyzed the minds of the people .His sugar coated mouth blinded the eyes of the people as he took a Keke ride through the streets of Owerri. Upon jumping into a Keke he stamped a false credential of a grass root man. Every Keke operator in Imo State by this simple cheap gesture convinced himself that the emergence of Owelle will alleviate the economic problems of the down trodden masses.
Riding high, on the ‘ Keke’ with his sham posture as the leader and speaker for the masses, Okorocha approached the Naze material market ,bought akara from a street trader which he gulped with sachet water. This act sent all the masses abuzz. These gimmicks became subject of conversation in every gathering of Imo people in the capital city of Owerri. Of course he was voted in as the executive governor of Imo State so that he can work the talk.
But more than 3 years after, what Okorocha has compensated Owerri West is looting of their council funds. The high expectations of Owerri West for real positive change in their lives have been shattered. The state of things in the council is a direct reflection of Okorocha’s commitment to enslaving the people, a situation reminiscent of biblical Israelites in bondage in Egypt. Nothing is fundamentally working out; no light, no water, no security, no social infrastructure, in fact no life. One man has squandered 4.7 billion naira that came to Owerri West from May 2011 till December 2013. Now this same one man wants us to vote for him again in 2015. Ndi Owerri West is this fair? He looted our LGA funds, he deprived us democracy at the grass root yet he wants us to democratically elect him again as governor in 2015. Who is fooling who here?
From May 2011 to December 2011 Owerri West LGA received from FG as allocation the sum of N1, 212,414,617.73. Where is the money? From January 2012 to December 2012 Owerri West LGA received from FG as allocation the sum of N1, 710,664,045.91. Where is the money? From January 2013 to December 2013 Owerri West LGA received from FG as allocation the sum of N1,859,480,401.52 making a total of N4,782,559,065.16 (from 2011 to 2013) Where are all the monies?
I am speaking out and they want to silence me. They have introduced political gangsterism, over dose of intolerance, crass and unmitigated anger. One man now behaves as if he is a resurrected Sani Abacha all in a bid to silence critics. Iwuoha has been thrown into jail alongside his wife since 3rd of June 2014 on trumped up charges. The Imo State Police Command under Mr Abdulmajid Ali has offered themselves as a vehicle to execute the illegalities of Governor Rochas Okorocha and Speaker Benjamin Uwajumogu as they continually use the police to harass and intimidate me. My only crime is that i said “stop looting our monies’’ For telling them to stop looting our LGA funds, they want to jail me. Ndi-Imo is this fair? Ndi-Owerri West is this fair?
In my next article, I will talk about Owerri North LGA funds. Find below the breakdown of money for Owerri West LGA’s from May 2011 to December 2013 that was squandered by Governor Okorocha and his LGA caretaker chairman.
May 2011 N94,577,037.92
June 2011 N126,495,452.63
July 2011 N225,341,245.97
Aug 2011 N130,820,020.12
Sept 2011 N132,976,448.76
Oct 2011 N155,506,921.02
Nov 2011 N213,049,916.71
Dec 2011 N133,647,574.60
Jan 2012 N150,927,964.93
Feb 2012 N133,740,618.48
March 2012 N167,240,465.14
April 2012 N134,906,216.10
May 2012 N125,029,160.26
June 2012 N125,172,681.33
July 2012 N119,204,241.10
Aug 2012 N154,188,871.39
Sept 2012 N119,403,896.27
Oct 2012 N117,794,933.84
Nov 2012 N156,016,459.57
Dec 2012 N207,038,537.50
Jan 2013 N155,034,856.44
Feb 2013 N126,671,643.89
March 2013 N167,240,465.14
April 2013 N158,811,634.85
May 2013 N168,505,765.27
June 2013 N174,215,508.29
July 2013 N132,633,667.98
Aug 2013 N155,875,946.23
Sept 2013 N132,530,179.43
Oct 2013 N119,403,896.27
Nov 2013 N155,506,921.02
Dec 2013 N213,049,916.71
-Kenneth Uwadi, Mmahu-Egbema, Imo State,Nigeria
