Last week, Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha threw caution to the wind when he said Senator Ifeanyi Araraume and former Governor Ikedi Ohakim can never succeed him in 2019. One would have ignored the Governor’s comments coming at a time it is public knowledge that there is so much heat on him as he labours in vain in choosing who his successor would be in 2019.
There is no doubt that Okorocha unsure of his 2019 third term agenda which is anchored on installing his son in law, Uche Nwosu as his successor has resorted to cheap and idle talk that exposes his flippancy with words and his misadventure in governance since he became Imo State Governor in 2011.
Okorocha may pretend that all is well but it is evidently clear that he is about to embark on his biggest political battle in his life in 2019 which is doomed to fail and crumble.This will be so because he is up against the majority of Imo people who he claims he is rescuing but who are disenchanted with his pattern of governance that has led to their impoverishment, pain and misery.
The truth of the matter is that Okorocha is not God. He cannot singe-handedly decide for over 6 million Imolites who should be their next Governor after him. Therefore his open outburst on Araraume that he will succeed him is an exhibition of a man scared of the rising popularity of the Isiebu born politician. Or is Okorocha telling us that the senator has become his worst political nightmare?
The task of electing Governors and other political office holders is firstly ordained by God and secondly by the people who have the inalienable right to choose who their leaders should be. Okorocha’s declaration that Araraume is not fit to succeed him is a clear display of arrogating to himself the power of make or mar and equating himself with God.
Indeed, Okorocha is playing God by saying Araraume cannot be Imo State Governor. He should be reminded that such boastful utterances were almost the same uttered by former Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim whom on the day of 2011 governorship election boasted that “ I will win and I will win with a wide margin” The reverse later became Ohakim’s lot as he lost the governorship polls. These are lessons for Okorocha and it is important he does not loose sight of the fact that his crumbling governorship will give way to a peoples governor in the mould of Senator Araraume who has significantly aligned his aspiration with the people in order to take them to the land of destiny where their full happiness will be restored.
When men in leadership positions begin to arrogate to themselves the powers of make or mar, equating themselves with God like Okorocha is doing, then folly and downfall is very close to their doorsteps. This is one of the laws of nature. Okorocha should know that it is beyond him to decide who governs Imo State in 2019. He fails to understand that it is only God that giveth and taketh power. In a State ravaged by poverty, pain and misery inflicted on them by his Rescue government that claim to be on a rescue Mission, it is evidently clear that the State and its people are in dire need of salvation and restoration.
Imo State have an array of politicians and leaders who can effectively navigate the ship of leadership and change the pitiable condition of the people. A state that has been in limbo, in a comatose condition for a long time cannot afford to gamble away with the unique opportunity in 2019 where they will have the right to choose a new Governor. Senator Ifeanyi Araraume cannot be wished away by Governor Okorocha. And Okorocha knows it. And if he does, he does it as his own peril. Infact, his recent statement that Araraume will not succeed him is a clear manifestation of the fact that he has either become jittery of Araraume’s overwhelming acceptance by the people or is suffering from Araraumephobia.
Araraume is eminently qualified to be Imo State Governor.This is a fact that cannot be disputed. No sane person can wish away a two time senator who was Chairman, Southern Senators Forum, a successful business mogul and presently a commissioner in the Nigeria Communications Commission, NCC. This shows a man with vast experience in the public and private sector. You cannot wish away a man who won the governorship primary of the then largest political party in Africa, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Imo State in 2006 and 2015 but was denied its governorship ticket in controversial circumstances.
And if political antecedents remain a pass mark to assess who qualifies to be a Governor in Imo State, certainly it is an Araraume and not any of Okorocha’s lackeys such as Uche Nwosu whom he wants to install as his successor. In a state begging for genuine rescue and liberation, Imolites do not need a soothsayer to decide if they want to continue with their present predicament. They need someone like Araraume who will take them to the promised land.
Governor Okorocha has shown political ingratitude to Araraume by saying the latter will not succeed him in 2019- a man who contributed significantly to Okorocha’s re- election as governor in 2015. Can Okorocha say he is not a beneficiary of Araraume’s political intervention in 2015? Can he say that Araraume never aided his re- election as Governor in 2015?. So why mark him as an endangered political specie after the senator had consulted him on his governorship ambition two years ago as Okorocha testified recently?
Recalling events that led to Okorocha’s re- election and the huge role the distinguished senator played is not the purpose of this piece, but it is pertinent to say that gone are the days men decide the fate of others. Power comes from God not from man. And God will not exempt Imo State in 2019. This is a fact Okorocha should not forget.
2019 beckons and it is a year of destiny for Imo people.