BY CYRIL ARIRIGUZO#
The alleged reports and plan by Governor Rochas Okorocha to spend huge sum of money to mould the statues of three deceased former leaders such as late Chief Michael Okpara, Late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and late Sam Mbakwe has received knocks from the Imo PDP Integrity Forum.
Reacting to the fresh plan, the National Publicity Secretary of the group, Hon Obi Mbadiwe condemned the plan while addressing newsmen describing it as one lacking economic value to the state and brazen display of insensitivity to the plights of the suffering Imolites including civil servants and pensioners.
According to him, erecting three more statues at the whopping sum of N700 Million Naira is a crazy idea that needs to be discouraged at this time of economic recession, when many families in Imo are finding it difficult to eat a meal a day.
“This idea of using statue erection to embezzle huge sums of money while the people are suffering and many unable to eat one meal a day must stop”. he said
Hon Mbadiwe wondered why the state government have decided to waste the resources of Imo state on statues and images that add no value to the lives of the masses of Imo state, stating that while the already unveiled statues of Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Mrs. Sirleaf Johnson of Liberia and others were still causing ripples across Nigeria and other African countries, Governor Okorocha still has the effrontery to erect more statues.
The group advised the Imo State governor to halt the move and redirect the huge amount to payment of arrears of pensions and civil servants salaries. It reminded the Governor that the amount in question including the one spent on Zuma’s statue could provide soft loans for small and medium scale businesses or be invested in quality healthcare for the people and also used to resettle traders displaced from demolished markets in Imo state to alleviate their sufferings.
